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AN ASSESSMENT OF WILDLIFE POACHING AND TRAFFICKINGIN BOLIVIA AND SURINAME
AN ASSESSMENT OF WILDLIFE POACHING AND TRAFFICKINGIN BOLIVIA AND SURINAME
IUCN NL (IUCN National
Committee of The Netherlands)
Plantage Middenlaan 2K
1018 DD Amsterdam
T + 31 (0) 20 626 17 32
www.iucn.nl
COLOPHON
This report is authored by EcoJust and
commissioned by IUCN National Committee
of The Netherlands (IUCN NL), with support
from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The
findings, interpretations, conclusions and views
expressed are those of the authors and do not
(necessarily) reflect the views of the Dutch
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Any errors are purely
the responsibility of the authors.
Copyright: © 2019
IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands
Citation: Verheij, P. (2019). An assessment of
wildlife poaching and trafficking in Boliva and
Suriname. IUCN NL, Amsterdam.
Reproduction of this publication for
educational or other non-commercial
purposes is authorized without prior written
permission from the copyright holder
provided the source is fully acknowledged.
Reproduction of this publication for resale
or other commercial purposes is prohibited
without prior written permission of the
copyright holder.
Author: Pauline Verheij (EcoJust)
Editor: Sian Owen
Coordination: Liliana Jauregui Bordones
Graphic design: Margo Vlamings
Cover photo: © Elizabeth Unger
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Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 4 5 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
CONTENTS • 4ACRONYMS • 6EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • 7- Introduction • 11
- Results • 7- Recommendations • 81 INTRODUCTION • 11
1.1 Objectives and scope • 11
1.2 Methodology • 12
1.3 Contents of this report • 12
2 WILDLIFE POACHING AND TRAFFICKING IN THE AMAZON • 13
2.1 Examples of species at risk from poaching and trafficking • 13
2.1.1 Parrots • 13
2.1.2 Jaguars • 14
2.1.3 Vicuñas • 14
2.1.4 Andean bears • 15
2.2 The impact of infrastructure development in the Amazon • 15
3 PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA • 17
3.1 Introduction • 17
3.2 Legal wildlife trade • 18
3.2.1 Legal framework • 18
3.3 Illegal wildlife trade • 19
3.3.1 Analysis of wildlife crime incidents • 20
3.3.2 Illegal jaguar trade • 21
3.3.3 Illegal bird trade • 24
3.3.4 (Illegal) bushmeat trade • 26
3.3.5 Government response • 28
3.3.6 The impacts of infrastructure development • 29
3.4 Conclusions • 30
4 REPUBLIC OF SURINAME • 31
4.1 Introduction • 31
4.2 Legal wildlife trade • 31
- Market shifts for Suriname’s legal wildlife trade • 33
- Discrepancies in reported CITES trade data • 33
- Relevant agencies • 34
4.2.1 Legal framework • 34
4.2.2 Export quota • 35
4.3 Illegal wildlife trade • 36
4.3.1 Analysis of wildlife crime incidents • 36
4.3.2 Illegal trade in jaguar parts • 36
4.3.3 Illegal trade in live animals for the pet trade • 41
- Routes and smuggling methods • 41
- Domestic demand for rare species • 43
- Examples of species threatened by illegal trade/overexploitation • 44
4.3.4 Illegal bushmeat trade • 46
4.3.5 Illegal trade in sea turtle eggs • 48
4.3.6 Impact of gold mining and timber logging • 49
4.3.7 Government response • 49
4.4 CONCLUSIONS • 50
ANNEX 1 WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS BOLIVIA AND SURINAME • 61
Wildlife crime incidents Bolivia • 61
Selection: jaguars seizures/incidents Bolivia • 72
Wildlife crime incidents Suriname • 73
Selection: jaguar and other cat seizures / incidents Suriname • 77
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 6 7 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
ACRONYMSCIPCA Centro de Investigación y Promoción del Campesinado
CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora
CNPC China National Petroleum Corporation
DGBAP Dirección General de Biodiversidad y Áreas Protegidas
EU European Union
FAO UN Food and Agriculture Organization
FOB Free on Board (or Freight on Board)
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GEF Global Environment Facility
IFAW International Fund for Animal Welfare
IIRSA Initiative for the Regional Integration of South America
IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature
NGO non-government organisation
Pofoma Policía Forestal y Preservación del Medio Ambiente
RGB Suriname Ministry of Ruimtelijke Ordening, Grond- en Bosbeheer
TIPNIS Isiboro Sécure Indigenous Territory and National Park
UNEP-WCMC United Nations Environment Program World Conservation Monitoring Centre
UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
WCS Wildlife Conservation Society
WWF Worldwide Fund for Nature
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Wildlife poaching and trafficking pose a serious threat to the unique species inhabiting the Amazon. These crimes impact not only the species concerned but also the ecosystems they belong to (particularly in the case of keystone species), local communities dependent on wildlife for their livelihoods, the economy of countries concerned and, last but not least, the rule of law.
IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands
(IUCN NL) commissioned EcoJust to conduct an
assessment of wildlife poaching and trafficking in the
Amazon in order to enhance understanding of the
issue and inform potential future engagement. Bolivia
and Suriname were selected as focal countries both
because they were deemed to be representative of
the wider region and in light of several years of in-
country engagement on the part of IUCN NL.
The project aimed to compile and analyse
information on wildlife poaching and trafficking in
Bolivia and Suriname, including the key species
targeted, the trafficking routes and main destinations,
and key drivers. The legal wildlife trade was reviewed
to provide clues toward understanding the illegal
trade. An attempt was also made to assess the impact
of infrastructure development and natural resource
extraction by foreign entities on the occurrence of
wildlife crime.
Information was gathered between December 2017
and February 2018 through open source research,
interviews, and a field mission to Suriname. A wildlife
crime incidents database was compiled based on
media reports of seizures, arrests and other incidents
concerning poaching and trafficking of protected
wildlife species. Although this data set due to the lack
of government data is incomplete and represents
only a fraction of actual levels of poaching and
trafficking, it does provide an insight into wildlife
crime threats in the countries concerned.
Results
Bolivia has strict legislation in place for the protection
of its wildlife. Currently only (parts and products of)
vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) and spectacled caiman
(Caiman crocodilus) can be legally exported, but
there are indications that these species continue to
be poached and trafficked. Rare and thus expensive
parrots reportedly also continue to be trafficked
(via neighbouring countries), but this international
trade is dwarfed by the domestic trade in parrots and
other wildlife for the pet market. Other key wildlife
crime issues include the commercial bushmeat trade
and the trafficking of jaguar (Panthera onca) parts
(particularly canines) to China. Since 2014, Bolivia
has seen a surge in trafficking of jaguar parts, which
appears to be driven almost entirely by Chinese
nationals – including both long term residents and
newly arrived migrant workers - living in Bolivia.
Compliance with Bolivia’s wildlife laws is undermined
by traditions favouring the use of wildlife for
consumption and as pets. Other challenges include
inadequate law enforcement capacity; a multi-
layered government structure which hinders effective
collaboration; corruption; and badly controlled,
porous land borders through which systematic
wildlife smuggling occurs.
Suriname has a liberal regime for the export of wildlife
and the country ranks among the biggest exporters
of live, wild-sourced reptiles and birds from Latin
America. The government has been unable to answer
questions from international organisations - such as
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 8 9 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES) - about the
sustainability of this trade, claiming it lacks the funds
to do the necessary research. To date, initiatives to
encourage traders to turn to captive breeding have
been largely unsuccessful. Suriname’s environmental
and wildlife legislation is outdated, but a non-
government organisation (NGO) led initiative is under
way to revise this. Key wildlife crime issues include
the commercial bushmeat trade; illegal cross-border
trade in live animals for pets; illegal trade in sea
turtle eggs; and illegal trade in jaguar parts. There
are indications that Chinese individuals were buying
jaguar parts as early as 2003, and that an organised
network is orchestrating the procurement, processing
into medicines and jewellery, sales (domestically,
through shops and social media) and smuggling
to China. Challenges to curbing wildlife crime in
Suriname include inadequate law enforcement
capacity and resources exacerbated by a failing
economy; diverging regimes for wildlife export within
the Guianas which are abused by traffickers and
create incentives for cross-border smuggling; and
corruption.
Like other countries in the Amazon, both Bolivia
and Suriname are undergoing major infrastructure
development driven by trade and transportation as
well as the search for valuable extractive resources
such as timber, minerals and oil. New roads into
wilderness areas are both driving environmental
degradation and fueling wildlife poaching and
trafficking. Indigenous communities are incentivised
to shift away from sustainable hunting practices to
unsustainable commercial hunting to feed a demand
for bushmeat and live animals for the pet trade. This
results in the depletion of wildlife near roads and
settlements in particular. Workers in the infrastructure
and mining industries residing in newly created
settlements create a demand for bushmeat and
engage in poaching themselves as well.
It is likely that the influx of Chinese companies in
recent years has been an indirect driver for the
surge in jaguar trafficking in Bolivia and Suriname,
both through opening up previously inaccessible
wilderness territory and providing new sources of
consumer demand. The Chinese people known to
be involved have well-established private businesses
in the countries concerned. There are signs that
sophisticated networks are driving the procurement
and trafficking; jaguar source countries cannot afford
to be complacent in addressing these crimes as there
is a real risk of extinction.
Bolivia has been proactive in intercepting shipments
and prosecuting those involved in the illegal
jaguar trade. Suriname, by contrast, appears to be
underestimating the seriousness of the situation
and should urgently ramp up enforcement efforts
to identify and bring to justice key culprits. Both
countries would benefit from technical and/
or financial support, toward disrupting criminal
networks and raising awareness among key
audiences.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on this analysis the following
recommendations were made to IUCN NL:
Recommendations for Bolivia
1. In coordination with existing NGO efforts, engage
the Bolivian government (including central
Dirección General de Biodiversidad y Áreas
Protegidas (DGBAP) and key regional governments
such as the Department of Santa Cruz) to assess
their needs for financial or technical support to
enhance implementation and enforcement of
Bolivia’s wildlife protection laws. Focal areas
could include: 1) supporting the development of a
multi-agency action plan to curb wildlife poaching
and trafficking; 2) supporting collaboration with
neighbouring countries to curb smuggling across
the land borders; and 3) supporting awareness
raising campaigns targeting key audiences,
taking on board lessons learned elsewhere with
regard to environmental education, e.g. by IUCN’s
Commission for Education and Communication.
2. Engage NGOs and the government to support
ongoing efforts to counter jaguar trafficking,
based on an assessment of where support is most
needed and in what form. Such support could
include, for example: 1) research and provision of
intelligence on key individuals involved in jaguar
trafficking for follow-up by Bolivia’s investigative
and prosecution bodies; 2) awareness raising of
local communities targeted by Chinese traffickers;
3) engaging the Chinese embassy in Bolivia; and
4) recruiting members of the Chinese elite in efforts
to discourage trafficking by Chinese residing in
Bolivia.
3. Engage academics in Bolivia and consider
supporting research to quantify the illegal trade
in bushmeat and live animals, nationally or for
biodiversity-rich parts of the country that are
known hotspots for wildlife poaching and trade.
4. Support innovative grassroots initiatives to monitor
and address wildlife crime.
5. Encourage the government to seek funds for
the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC) to conduct a Wildlife and Forest Crime
Analytic toolkit assessment that would analyse
administrative, preventive and criminal justice
responses to wildlife and forest crime and
related offences and make recommendations for
improving these.1
Recommendations for Suriname
1. Support academic research to assess populations
of keystone wildlife species in Suriname believed
to be threatened by unsustainable and/or illegal
exploitation. These include cat species (jaguar,
puma, jaguarundi), the harpy eagle, and giant
otters.
2. Engage the government (including the Ministry of
Ruimtelijke Ordening, Grond- en Bosbeheer (RGB)
and the Ministry of Justice and Police) and key
NGO and private sector stakeholders to establish a
collaboration on tackling serious wildlife crime in
the country. The collaboration could focus on the
following elements:
a. Strengthening law enforcement, focusing on
mutually agreed priority issues. Financial and
technical support is required for intelligence-
led investigations of key traffickers as well as to
conduct targeted controls at key infrastructure
nodes such as roads leading to the city, the Zorg
en Hoop airport for domestic flights and Johan
Adolf Pengel Airport for international flights. The
Nature Conservation Division and the police
force should be encouraged to collaborate in
complex investigations, in order for the Nature
Conservation Division to benefit from the police’s
investigative skills.
b. Strengthening collaboration with Guyana
and French-Guiana and developing a regional
approach to tackling the systematic cross-border
smuggling of wildlife. As a matter of priority,
Suriname and Guyana should endeavour to
harmonise export quotas and free on board
(FOB) prices to discourage smuggling. Regular
checks of known border crossing points and
wildlife markets in the border areas of the three
Guianas should be conducted.
c. Sensitising the judiciary (prosecutors and
judges) and raising awareness of the importance
of fighting wildlife crime and the need for
adequate prosecution and sentencing of key
traffickers who currently enjoy impunity.
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 10 11 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
d. Launching a consumer awareness programme
for select target audiences, including:
i. Chinese buyers of jaguar parts in Suriname,
e.g. through engaging members of the local
Chinese political and business elite;
ii. Hunters and others frequenting the interior
known to be involved in jaguar killing;
iii. Indigenous communities known to be
involved in jaguar killing.
3. Support grassroots NGOs/initiatives in monitoring/
addressing wildlife crimes and other illegal activities
detrimental to Suriname’s biodiversity and the local
communities depending on it.
4. Consider supporting the Surinamese government
to develop a science-based strategy for developing
sustainable, economic alternatives to diminish
the trade in bushmeat and live animals. This
strategy, formulated in consultation with all
relevant stakeholders, should balance the need
to safeguard the livelihoods and food security of
indigenous communities and the need to conserve
wildlife species, both for future generations and
for Suriname’s tourism industry which depends
on healthy populations of iconic species. The
strategy should take into account lessons from other
countries2 and showcase the long-term benefits
of protecting Suriname’s wildlife for Suriname’s
economy and society as a whole.
5. Encourage the government to seek funds for the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
to conduct a Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic
toolkit assessment that would analyse administrative,
preventive and criminal justice responses to wildlife
and forest crime and related offences and make
recommendations for improving these.3
6. In all of the above, identify initiatives and
innovations that have been successful elsewhere and
which could be replicated in Suriname.
ACTIONS TAKEN BY IUCN NL
Since the report was completed in March 2018,
IUCN NL has taken action to advance some of the
recommendations. For example, in coordination with
existing NGO efforts, there has been engagement
with the Bolivian government (key regional
governments such as the Department of Santa Cruz)
to assess their needs for financial or technical support
to enhance the implementation and enforcement
of Bolivia’s wildlife protection laws. There have
additionally been some moves to support and
encourage “on the ground” actions to tackle jaguar
trafficking.
Beyond the report’s original conclusions, IUCN NL
considers the following areas as potential for further
collaborative exploration and perhaps action:
1. Establish binational alliances to combat the issue;
2. Use existing transboundary governance structures
such as ZICOSUR4 to coordinate cooperation
and action at the level of regional and municipal
authorities.
These two areas are in line with the London
Conference on Illegal Wildlife trade conference, held
in October 2018.5 The fact that this expert conference
urgently called attention to Latin America gave the
issue of wildlife crime in this region more international
importance. This report aims to take first steps to
address that call by enhancing the understanding of
the issue.
1. INTRODUCTION
The Amazon rainforest spans an area of some 5,500,000 km2, covering most of the Amazon basin in South America (7,000,000 km2). This unique ecosystem represents over half of the planet’s remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world. The region is home to about 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2,000 bird and mam-mal species. The Amazon rainforest stretches across eight countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
It is well known that the Amazon is threatened by
mining, oil exploration and logging - both legal and
illegal - predominantly for the timber and agricultural
industries. Far less is known about poaching and
trafficking of Amazon wildlife species, many of them
endemic. Wildlife poaching and trafficking pose a
serious threat to the species concerned and to the
ecosystem they belong to (particularly in case of
keystone species), as well as to local communities
dependent on wildlife for their livelihoods,
national economies, and to the rule of law. There
are indications that mining and infrastructure
development accelerate wildlife trafficking by
opening up the rainforest, creating easy entry and
exit points and introducing an influx of people who
demand bushmeat and/or engage in poaching.
Occasional news reports and small-scale studies have
raised the alarm, but to date few efforts have been
undertaken to understand the scale and nature of
the illegal wildlife trade in the Amazon. The existing
information gap may be a key reason why the issue is
low on the agenda of most governments and NGOs –
compared to the attention afforded to the poaching
and illegal trade in African and Asian species such as
elephants, rhinos and pangolins.
1.1 OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE
There is a need to improve the knowledge base on
wildlife poaching and trafficking in the Amazon,
to raise awareness, increase the sense of urgency,
and spur relevant stakeholders into taking action
to address the threat both in and from this region.
IUCN NL thus commissioned EcoJust to conduct an
assessment of wildlife poaching and trafficking in
Bolivia and Suriname.
Bolivia and Suriname were selected as focal
countries for the assessment due to their perceived
representativity of the wider Amazon and several
years of IUCN NL engagement in the country. Where
possible the research takes into account relevant
observations and links with other countries, both in
the region and beyond.
The project aimed to compile and analyse
information of wildlife poaching and trafficking
in Bolivia and Suriname through research and
interviews. The focus was to identify the main species
targeted, trafficking routes and main destinations
and the drivers for the poaching and trafficking.
An attempt was also made to assess the impact of
foreign investment on wildlife crime in the focal
countries.
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 12 13 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
The project forms part of a larger campaign on
illegal trade networks related to foreign investments
in the Amazon. The assessment focused on wild
fauna species protected by CITES and/or national
legislation. The illegal extraction of plants and timber
was not included.
1.2 METHODOLOGY
Information was gathered between December 2017
and February 2018 using the following methods:
Open source research of Spanish, English and
Dutch language internet and academic resources to
garner information on legal and illegal wildlife trade
in and from Bolivia and Suriname.
Wildlife crime incidents database: To understand
which species are targeted, and where and how they
are trafficked, open source research was conducted
to collect information on wildlife crime incidents,
including both domestic incidents and seizures of
illegal wildlife species from Bolivia and Suriname
intercepted from national and international trade. The
search focused on English and Spanish websites for
Bolivia, and English and Dutch websites for Suriname
(Dutch is Suriname’s official language and seizures
of Surinamese wildlife species frequently occur in
The Netherlands). The incident reports were included
in a database to facilitate analysis. An extract of this
data set which includes key information on dates,
locations, species and quantities seized can be found
in Annex 1.
This approach has necessarily resulted in an
incomplete picture since many wildlife crime
incidents are never reported to the media. It is also
likely that not all media reports were identified.
Moreover, for the US - an important destination for
birds and reptiles from Latin America - only seizures
from 2003-2013 were recorded due to the fact that
the source for these seizures records (an online
platform developed by TRAFFIC) does not contain
data post-2013. These gaps are likely to skew the
seizure analysis.
A field mission to Suriname was conducted from
24 February - 3 March 2018. Interviews were held
with representatives of NGOs, a wildlife trader, an
academic expert and others knowledgeable about
wildlife poaching and trafficking in Suriname. The
Suriname Forest Service, the responsible government
department, declined to respond to a request for an
interview.
Interviews (oral and written) were also conducted
remotely with NGO staff, government officials,
academics and independent researchers, in
particular for Bolivia.
1.3 CONTENTS OF THIS REPORT
Section 2 provides an introduction to illegal
wildlife trade issues in the Amazon and the impact
of infrastructure development on indigenous
communities, natural habitats and the wildlife species
dependent on them. Sections 3 and 4 present the
main findings for Bolivia and Suriname respectively.
Each starts with an overview of the legal wildlife
trade and the relevant legal framework, followed by a
brief discussion of significant wildlife crime incidents
identified through open source research and a more
in-depth analysis of key wildlife crime issues. Annex
1 provides the wildlife crime incidents database
compiled.
2. WILDLIFE POACHING AND TRAFFICKING IN THE AMAZONThe extraordinary biodiversity of the Amazon Basin makes it vulnerable to wildlife poaching and trafficking. Yet information about the nature and impact of the illegal wildlife trade in this region is sparse and fragmented. Brazil’s Institute of Environment and Natural Resources - probably the most comprehensive data source - estimates that some 12 million wild animals are caught illegally each year in that country alone. These are primarily birds, as well as monkeys, turtles and jaguars, among others.6
Historically the wildlife trade in Latin America served
pet markets, predominantly in the US and Europe.
In the last decade, however, a huge market for live
birds and reptiles has emerged in Asia. There are
significant domestic pet markets as well. In many
countries in Latin America, keeping local animals
- parrots, monkeys and turtles - is a longstanding
tradition. In parts of Brazil, tamed wild animals
are called xerimbabos, which means “something
beloved”. In surveys, 30% of Brazilians and 25% of
Costa Ricans said they had kept wild animals as
pets.7
The illegal trade in live animals is associated with
immense suffering. Animals taken from the wild
are smuggled in thermoses, nylon stockings and
even underpants, stuffed into toilet paper tubes,
hair curlers and hubcaps. For each individual that is
purchased as a pet, an estimated 8 to 10 animals die
in the process of capture and transport to market.8
Other markets for the Amazon’s wildlife include the
domestic consumption of bushmeat and turtle eggs
and the use of crocodile parts and products in the
international leather industry. In the last decade,
the emerging new threat has been the trafficking of
jaguar parts to China.
2.1 EXAMPLES OF SPECIES AT RISK FROM
POACHING AND TRAFFICKING
2.1.1 Parrots
The global trade in parrots is huge: since 2003
nearly one third of the world’s 330 parrot species are
considered endangered, due to poaching and habitat
loss. In Latin America the number of birds trafficked
internationally is dwarfed by the number poached for
domestic markets. Research in Bolivia, Mexico and
Peru has revealed a burgeoning illicit trade in New
World parrots9 for domestic markets. Rural people
capture the birds for sale at open air markets, often
taking infant birds from nests.
Illegal international trade also occurs. Many Latin
American countries have national export quotas and
restrictions on the export of parrot species. Brazil, for
example, does not permit the export of wild parrots,
creating an incentive for smuggling. The trafficking
of parrots from Mexico to the US has been noted,
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 14 15 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
while seizures in Portugal and Spain attest to the
trafficking of parrots from Latin America to Europe.
INTERPOL’s 2012 “Operation Cage” was launched
in response to the trade of captive-bred and wild
birds and eggs transiting from Latin America to
Europe.10
Some species of parrots have been brought to the
brink of extinction by the illegal trade. For example,
the Lear’s Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari) was selling
for US$ 90,000 a head in 2008. As a result the global
population has dropped to under 1,000.11
2.1.2 Jaguars
Like most other big cat species around the world,
wild populations of jaguars have been greatly
diminished in the last century. Jaguar populations
are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation,
killing for trophies and illegal trade in body parts,
proactive or retaliatory killings associated with
livestock depredation, and competition for wild
meat with human hunters.12 Estimates of the
remaining jaguar population range from about
130,000-208,000 animals.13
In the last year conservationists have raised the
alarm about a surge in the trafficking of jaguar parts
across range countries in Latin America to feed
demand in China.14 Countries known to be affected
include Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru15 and Suriname.
Apart from Bolivia, where significant amounts of
jaguar parts (predominantly canines) have been
seized and several individuals prosecuted for illegal
trade, not much is known yet about the nature and
scale of this emerging trend. The situation in Bolivia
and Suriname is discussed in Sections 3 and 4,
respectively.
2.1.3 Vicuñas16
Fifty years ago, with a global population of 10,000
individuals, the vicuña was threatened with
extinction by exploitation of its valuable fibre and
the lack of population management. Concerted
conservation efforts have, however, led to its
recovery and today a population of 500,000 inhabits
Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru.17
But vicuñas are increasingly targeted by poachers.
Approximately 5,000 were found dead from 2010-
2015, skinned and stripped of their fur to supply an
illicit international trade. Experts believe these official
figures are just the tip of the iceberg as vicuñas
inhabit areas that are exceedingly difficult to patrol.
Poachers will turn their guns on anyone who tries
to interfere. In January 2015, two Chilean police
officers were killed at the Peruvian border when they
stopped vicuña traffickers and a Bolivian government
employee active in the fight against vicuña poaching
was found murdered. Experts are struggling to
uncover basic facts about the recent wave of killings,
including who is to blame, where illegal vicuña
fibre and products wind up and what is the risk to
conservationists. While some rural people likely
turn to illegal hunting as a way to supplement their
income, in other cases gangs with possible ties to
cocaine trafficking are implicated. In Argentina, drug
groups from Bolivia are purportedly paying their way
with illegal fibre from vicuñas.
Illegal products are primarily sold locally. In 2012
a market survey carried out in El Alto, Bolivia found
166 vendors illegally selling 365 kg of processed
and unprocessed vicuña fibre; over 345 kg of vicuña
blankets; and numerous scarves, ties and head
scarves. China may also be a destination for illegal
vicuña wool. That connection has not yet been
officially established, although the market for vicuña
products — known in Chinese as “camel horse” — is
growing.
At present smuggling is easy for poachers. Borders
are permeable, and customs agents who do take the
time to carry out inspections often have difficulty
distinguishing between products originating from
llama, alpaca and vicuña. If criminals are caught, laws
to prosecute them are lax.
2.1.4 Andean bears
Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus) - also known
as “spectacled bears” - occur in six Latin American
countries, from Argentina to Venezuela. They are
often illegally killed as a livestock nuisance and
to meet the demand for bear parts on local black
markets. Andean bears are listed on Appendix I
of CITES and as “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red
List. IUCN has cautioned that they “are among
the carnivores that are most likely to move toward
extinction.”18
A study by Judith Figueroa of the University of
Alicante in Spain found parts and products of
the Andean bear for sale in every country where
they live. Her 2014 report, “Tráfico de partes e
individuos del oso andino Tremarctos ornatus en
el Perú”, demonstrates the ubiquity and breadth of
commercial products containing bear parts. In Peru,
bear parts were found illegally for sale in 27 markets
in 14 different regions. Their parts are commonly
used for alternative medicine, including magic by
healers, for food, and as an aphrodisiac. Many items
represent deeply rooted historical traditions such
as those practiced by Inca people centuries ago.
Body parts are sold as amulets in northern areas like
Venezuela to ward off evil spirits, and in Bolivia they
sell tongue bones as talismans.19
Bear gall bladders are valued in traditional Asian
medicine and can fetch a high price on the
international market: recent estimates put the price
at US$ 150 for one, which is five times the average
monthly wage in Ecuador. There is also a large
market for bear paws. Considered a delicacy by East
Asians, one paw yields US$ 10-20.20
2.2 THE IMPACT OF INFRASTRUCTURE
DEVELOPMENT IN THE AMAZON
The impacts of poaching and illegal wildlife trade are
exacerbated by habitat loss and fragmentation. Road
expansion into new areas of the Amazon – a major
cause of this process - is driven by the development
of infrastructure for trade and transportation, as well
as the search for valuable materials for extraction,
including timber, minerals and oil. This development
also results in an increase in wildfires.
Dams are another major driver of ecological decline.
At the time of writing, 416 dams were operational
or under construction in the Amazon, and a
further 334 dams were planned or proposed.21
Scientists have warned that this “dam building
binge” will shred the Amazon’s ecosystems by
interfering with fish spawning and holding back
sediments and nutrients that nourish the Amazon
basin. Two other threats—climate change and the
deforestation that accompanies road building during
dam construction—could amplify the severity of
ecological deterioration.22
Infrastructure development is further known to
fuel wildlife poaching and trade. A 2015 article
in Mongabay discusses the impact that transport
infrastructure created by oil companies has had on
Ecuador’s bushmeat and wildlife trade.23 It relates
how oil companies build extensive road systems
to service drilling operations. They often offer gifts
of vehicles, canoes, outboard motors and guns to
Indigenous people, enabling more efficient hunting
- including for bushmeat. Studies in Ecuador show
that roads create exposure to a market economy,
upsetting the equilibrium that exists in indigenous
cultures. As hunting becomes a commercial pursuit,
wildlife populations quickly plummet. A 2012 study
of the Maxus road in Yasuni National Park revealed
new indigenous settlements along the road and a
shift of Waorani hunters from sustainable practices
to unsustainable commercial hunting. Both prey
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 16 17 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
and predator wildlife species numbers dropped
precipitously near the oil road.
Infrastructure also facilitates the harvest of
live animals to supply extensive domestic and
international markets. Some researchers consider
this trade as a by-product of the bushmeat trade.
According to Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment,
nearly 8,000 wild animals were rescued from
trafficking between 2003 and 2013 and sent to
rehabilitation centres in Ecuador. The largest
numbers of live animals illegally traded for pets were
reptiles, followed by mammals and birds.
It is highly likely the same dynamics are at play
in other Amazon countries rich in oil, gas or other
natural resources. Sections 3.3.6 and 4.3.6 reflect on
this issue for Bolivia and Suriname, respectively.
Below are two aerial images taken in the same place,
in 1975 and 2000. The first photo, in then-remote
eastern Ecuador, shows expansive intact rainforest
in every direction around a newly established oil well
with its access road. The second photo depicts the
deforestation resulted when a vulnerable ecosystem
is not protected from uncontrolled access. Such
extensive deforestation in the Amazon eliminates up
to 100,000 species per hectare.
© Instituto Geografico Militar. Source: Mongabay: https://news.mongabay.com/2015/10/oil-roads-to-ecological-ruin-ecuadors-bushmeat-and-wildlife-trade/
3. PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Bolivia is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world. Its location in the tropics combined with dramatic variations in topography and climate result in a wide range of ecosystems—from the mountain landscapes of the Andes to the rain-forests of the Amazon to the unusual dry forests of the Chaco. Particularly notable is the diversity of birds: the country boasts more than 1,400 species ranging from the macaws of the rainforest to the Andean condor. Bolivia has designated more than 17% of its land as protected areas.24
Vertebrate endemism is high: 16% of the mammals,
22% of fish, 20% of reptiles and 42% of birds are
endemic to Bolivia. The country has more than
14,000 higher plant species, 325 mammals, 186
amphibians, 260 reptiles, and 550 fish species, and
1,379 bird species.25
More than half of Bolivia’s 11.3 million people are
indigenous, divided over dozens of ethnic groups.
While poverty in rural areas has fueled an ongoing
migration to cities, many Bolivians still live a rural life,
farming or raising livestock. More than 1.5 million
rural people live in or near the country’s protected
areas.26
Bolivia is also rich in non-renewable resources. Strong
growth attributed largely to natural gas exports to
Argentina and Brazil has enabled significant public
spending. Yet the country remains one of the least
developed in Latin America due to a poor business
climate and state intervention in the economy that
deters investment and private sector growth. High
commodity prices between 2010 and 2014 sustained
rapid growth and large trade surpluses. However, the
global decline in oil prices from late 2014 negatively
impacted Bolivia’s revenues for exported gas,
resulting in lower GDP growth, losses in government
income, and fiscal and trade deficits.27
A lack of foreign investment in the key sectors of
mining and hydrocarbons, along with conflict among
social groups, pose challenges for the Bolivian
economy. In 2015, in an attempt to improve the
investment climate, President Evo Morales expanded
efforts to attract international investment and boost
Bolivia’s energy production capacity.28
This move was welcomed by China. Chinese
companies have significantly increased their
presence in Bolivia in recent years, particularly active
in the energy and transport infrastructure and mining
sectors. However, as with Ecuador and other regional
neighbours, much of China’s investment in Bolivia
remains focused on the extraction and transport
of raw materials, helping to lock in the “resource
curse”.29 According to data from the Bolivian Institute
of Foreign Trade, China is the largest exporter to
Bolivia, accounting for around 18% of the country’s
total imports. It is also the fifth-largest destination for
Bolivian exports, mostly raw materials and minerals.30
PANDO
LA PAZ
BENI
ORURO
POTOS I CHUQUISACA
TARIJA
SANTA CRUZ
BRAZIL
PERU
CHILE
ARGENTINA
PARAGUAY
Sucre
La Paz
Yucuiba
Gran Chaco Puerto Suáres
Trinidad
Puerto Heath
Santa Cruz
COCHABAMBASan Matías Natural Area of Integrated Management
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 18 19 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
The presence of organised crime is high in Bolivia.
The country is the world’s third-largest cultivator
of coca and its third largest cocaine producer.
It serves as a transit country for Colombian and
Peruvian cocaine destined for Argentina, Brazil, Chile,
Paraguay and Europe. Border controls are weak and
there is some related money-laundering activity.31
3.2 LEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE
A UNEP-WCMC analysis of Bolivia’s legal CITES trade
data32 shows that between 2005 and 2014:
1. The most highly traded commodity from Bolivia
was spectacled caiman skins, tails, meat and skin
pieces, the majority of which are wild-sourced. Italy
was the main import market, followed by Spain and
Mexico;
2. Wild-sourced timber, comprising Spanish
cedar (Cedrela odorata) and big-leaf mahogany
(Swietenia macrophylla), was also a key export of
the country, with the US accounting for over half of
all imports;
3. Vicuña fibre was also an important export from
Bolivia, key importers being Italy and Argentina.
There have been no reported exports of spectacled
caiman or arapaima (Arapaima gigas) meat since
2007, of various species of peccaries since 2008 and
of mahogany since 2012. In 2011 Bolivia set a zero
export quota for mahogany, following concerns over
the sustainability of this trade. It is unclear whether
vicuña and spectacled caiman have been legally
exported since 2015, as Bolivia’s last biennial report
to CITES was for 2014-2015.
The estimated average annual value of Bolivia’s
CITES exports between 2005 and 2014 was US$ 20.5
million. The products with the highest total estimated
value were timber, specifically big-leaf mahogany
(US$ 7.9 million per year) and Spanish cedar (US$ 6
million per year).
3.2.1 Legal framework
Bolivia declared a total ban on the capture,
conditioning, commercialisation and export of wild
animals, their by-products and secondary products
in Decreto Supremo 21312 of 27 June 1986. This
ban was further refined by subsequent decrees,
including Decreto Supremo 22641 in 1990 and
Decreto Supremo 25458 in 1995. Decreto Supremo
25458 confirmed all the restrictions with regard to
native wildlife but provided an exception for activities
authorised by the national environmental authority,
following submission of technical documentation
which proves the intended activity will not harm the
natural population of the species involved. Since
then, only caiman and vicuña have been allowed to
be traded, nationally and internationally.
In 2016, Decreto Supremo 3048 came into force,
tightening the rules for wildlife trade. Article 10
creates an exception to the general trade ban if: a)
the trader can prove the specimens involved come
from activities of sustainable use and/or wildlife
management and the use of the species will not
put the wild population at risk; b) it is based on
authorised national quotas; and c) based on a Non-
Detriment Finding Report for CITES-listed species.
The trade in caiman and vicuña was once again
authorised based on this decree.
The Bolivian Environmental Law (Ley 1333 of 27 April
1992) sets out the general framework for protection
of the (natural) environment. A key provision is
Article 106, which declares that crimes against the
environment are penalised by Article 223 of Bolivia’s
Penal Code, provides a 1-6 year prison sentence.
Article 44 of Ley 300 (Law of Mother Earth and
Integral Development for Living Well), which came
into force in 2012, stipulates that in the case of crimes
related to Mother Earth the prison sentence must
be served. Moreover, for recidivists the sentence is
increased by one third of the maximum penalty.
3.3 ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE
Bolivia’s rich and unique biodiversity has been the
target of wildlife traffickers for many decades. Soon
after Bolivia joined CITES in 1979 and many of its
species became protected by international law, the
country saw a major emergence of illegal wildlife
trade. At CITES’ Fifth Conference of the Parties in
1985, other Latin American countries expressed
concern about the depletion of their wildlife resulting
from Bolivia’s “ever-growing and destructive illegal
trade”. CITES even imposed trade sanctions, which
caused Bolivia to take measures to ensure proper
implementation.33 Faced with heavy international
criticism for its corrupt wildlife trade practices34 and
failure to comply with CITES, Bolivia banned export of
all wildlife in 1986.35
Unfortunately, the export ban and subsequent
decrees - which introduced a general prohibition for
capture and trade of native species - have not been
enough to stop illegal export of Bolivia’s protected
wildlife species. Wildlife smuggling occurs across
all the borders that Bolivia shares with Argentina,
Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Peru. Bolivia is both a
source and a destination for wildlife specimens from
neighbouring countries and is also believed to be
a transit country. For example, several researchers
believe that Bolivia functions as a bridge for illegal
wildlife trade between Brazil and Peru.36 This cross-
border trafficking mainly concerns live specimens
destined for the pet trade and parts and products for
consumption, traditional use or religious festivals.
Traffic routes from frontiers to neighbouring countries
Traffic routes from cities to frontiers
Traffic routes from rural areas to cities
International shipping point
B O L I V I A
B O L I V I A
Adapted from © Tráfico illegal de vida silvestre Bolivia, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Agua, Dirección General de Biodioversidad y Áreas Protegidas 2013. Source: https://www.slideshare.net/vladyvostok/guia-control-trfico
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 20 21 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
3.3.1 Analysis of wildlife crime incidents
An analysis of wildlife crime incidents implicating
Bolivia as a source, destination or transit country (see
Annex 1) provides the following insights:
Jaguar trafficking
The seizure information shows a significant rise in
jaguar trafficking since 2012, with seizures occurring
both in inland locations and in the Bolivian postal
system. Twenty-four cases were identified between
2009 and January 2018. Twenty-two cases occurred
in Bolivia, one in the US (seizure of a skull in 2012)
and one at Beijing airport (119 canines and 13
claws in March 2015). The surge in jaguar trafficking
appears to be driven almost entirely by Chinese
demand. Of the 22 Bolivian cases, 17 cases involved
Chinese individuals, and five cases Bolivian citizens.
The seizures also show China as the main destination
for jaguar parts. Between 2014 and 2016 a series of
mail packages with jaguar canines and other parts
addressed to people in China was intercepted at the
airport by Correos de Bolivia. In March 2015, Beijing
Customs arrested a Chinese businessman with an
enterprise in Bolivia for attempting to smuggle 119
jaguar canines and 13 claws into China. The man was
sentenced to four and a half years prison and a fine.
An extrapolation of seized specimens and parts
suggests that at least 324 jaguars were involved
in these 24 cases (two alive and 322 dead). It is
unclear whether the jaguars were all sourced within
Bolivia, or whether parts are also smuggled from
neighbouring countries, with Bolivia serving as a
transit point.
Illegal bird trade
Significant seizures of live birds were reported in
domestic pet markets. Species seized predominantly
concern parrots, parakeets and macaws (Psittacines).
As recently as 26 February 2018, authorities in Santa
Cruz - a hub for the illegal bird trade - seized 150
birds, including blue and yellow macaws
(Ara ararauna) and toucans. Songbirds appear to be
in trade as well, judging from a case in January 2018,
where 581 saffron finches (Sicalis flaveola) from Peru
were seized on the Peru-Bolivia border. Most of the
birds had died during transport, with fewer than one
in five still alive. Apart from this seizure and another
incident in 2017 when two parakeets from Bolivia
were seized on a bus in Chile, all recorded bird
seizures occurred inside Bolivia.
Box 1. Successful prosecutions
In November 2018 Chinese citizens Li Ming and
Yin Lan were sentenced to four and three years
in prison respectively, for the trafficking of animal
parts. The pair was arrested in their restaurant on 23
February 2018. In the raid, police confiscated 185
jaguar fangs , one jaguar skin, one African leopard
skin, three other feline skins, two rattle snakes, 11
ivory statues of Chinese idols, three marsh deer
(Blastocerus dichotomus) and one giant armadillo
claw (Priodontes maximus). Also confiscated were
a loaded .22 caliber pistol and a large sum of both
domestic and foreign currency. For the Vice Ministry
of the Environment, the ruling marks a precedent
in the protection of biodiversity. Their lawyers
announced the intent to seek more severe penalties
for such cases in future.
Franco Bertón, https://es.mongabay.com/2018/11/
sentencia-traficantes-colmillos-de-jaguar-bolivia/,
13 November 2018. Information received between
completion of research and report publication.
Spectacled caiman trafficking
The seizure data show persistent trafficking of
skins, skin pieces, tails and products of spectacled
caiman, with the US a likely key destination. A
remarkable seizure took place in Bolivia in April
2013 when 4,936 baby caimans wild-caught in
the Pantanal marshlands were seized from a truck
on the road to Santa Cruz, along with 511 skins.
The drivers claimed that they were headed for
Crocoland in Santa Cruz - Bolivia’s only licensed
caiman captive breeding facility - but Crocoland
reportedly denied this37 In December, 1,900 of the
baby caimans were returned to the wild; the rest
had died.38
This seizure probably represents a tiny fraction of
the actual level of illegal trade. Renctas, a Brazilian
NGO, estimates that one million caimans are illegally
captured in the Pantanal every year. In the Amazon
region, illegal hunters kill thousands of caimans
every month. The skins are taken to neighbouring
countries where they are processed in tanneries,
have their features changed, are provided with false
documentation, and are subsequently exported to
the international market.39
Parts and products of other reptiles were also seized
in domestic markets, including tortoises, river
turtles, snakes, boas, vipers, and Andes tree iguanas
(Liolaemus andinus).
Bushmeat trade
Several seizures attest to the fact that there is a
local market for parts and products of mammals
including deer, foxes, cat species, monkeys,
armadillos, anteaters as well as owls and birds of
prey, for use in religious festivals. Meat - including
tapir, monkeys, capibaras and armadillos - was also
seized on a number of occasions.
3.3.2 Illegal jaguar trade
The jaguar is the only member of the panthera family
in the Americas and is by far the biggest cat on the
continent. The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)
estimates there are only around 15,000 jaguars left
in the wild. The jaguar is listed on CITES Appendix
I and is classified by IUCN as ‘near threatened’.40
Today there are an estimated 2,000-3,000 jaguars left
in the wild in Bolivia.41 Numerous recent journalistic
and academic reports highlight a surge in jaguar
trafficking in Bolivia, confirmed by the seizure
information collected for this assessment.
Chinese involvement
Evidence shows that since 2013, Chinese individuals
living in Bolivia have started buying jaguar parts
(fangs in particular) and smuggling these to China,
sometimes helped by Bolivians. Adverts aired on
local Bolivian radio stations, as well as posters, flyers
etc. distributed in rural areas, have requested jaguar
parts for sale. Chinese individuals were sending
large quantities of jaguar parts to China through the
mail. Between 2014 and 2016 the Bolivian postal
service, Ecobol, discovered 300 jaguar products in 16
shipments, all destined for China. Fourteen of these
were sent by Chinese citizens working in Bolivia.42
Several government agencies responsible for wildlife
protection have stepped in to address the emerging
threat. The Dirección General de Biodiversidad y
Áreas Protegidas of the Ministerio Medio Ambiente y
Agua has led the charge and instigated 14 criminal
proceedings against eight Chinese citizens and two
Bolivians. Criminal charges were brought against
a Bolivian woman who encouraged the hunting
of jaguars through social media, and against two
people who promoted the sale of wild animal parts
on the radio and offered money in exchange for
“tiger fangs.”43 Apart from the two cases noted in
Box 2, which received a lot of media attention, it is
unclear whether these prosecutions have resulted in
sentences.
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 22 23 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
Box 2. Cases of Chinese smuggling
1. In December 2014 police raided the home
of Yan Yixing, a Chinese national known
locally as Javín. They found jaguar heads and
300 canines and further evidence of jaguar
trafficking on his computer. He remained
free on bail for three years after his arrest, his
trial having been delayed several times. In
September 2017 the trial finally proceeded. He
was convicted and is now filing an appeal.1
2. In May 2016 a sting operation conducted in by
the forestry police (Pofoma) and Madidi park
rangers found a Chinese citizen, Jian Fang
Xiao, in possession of seven jaguar fangs. Jian
Fang Xiao was in preventive detention for a
year in a small prison in Rurrenabaque, but was
later reportedly released to house arrest.2
1. Rachael Bale, On the Trail of Jaguar Poachers,
National Geographic December 2017, https://www.
nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/12/on-the-trail-
of-jaguar-poachers/. Accessed 19 February 2018.
2. Personal communication with Elizabeth Unger.
Bolivian media have suggested that the surge in
jaguar trafficking is related to the recent influx of
Chinese companies involved in large development
projects by the Bolivian government, on the back
of major Chinese investments in and lending to
Bolivia.44 Ángela Núñez, a biologist specialising in
wildlife conservation and management, has alerted
the international media of her belief that - due to the
growing trade links between Bolivia and China - a
large number of Chinese citizens are promoting
illegal jaguar hunting and creating illegal trafficking
networks.45 In the period between completion of
the research for this report and publication, several
interviews were conducted with hunters working in
Trinidad. The hunters reported demand expressed
by migrant labourers working on the Trinidad-San
Ignacio de Moxos road, a project executed by a
Chinese company.46
The authorities in Santa Cruz acknowledge that
wildlife crime cases in their region have increased
with the presence of Chinese construction
companies. However they state that they have no
evidence relating these to wildlife trafficking.47
Reduced availability of tiger parts in Asia, combined
with growing demand in East and Southeast Asia and
the increased Chinese presence in Latin America,
may have come together to create a “perfect
storm”, resulting in the surge in jaguar trafficking
to China. This is reminiscent of the ivory and rhino
horn poaching crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. Rapidly
increasing demand in China inspired Asian nationals
in Africa to set up sophisticated schemes to traffic
ivory and rhino horn to East and Southeast Asia,
taking advantage of weak governance, corruption
and poverty. Within a decade, African elephant and
rhino populations were decimated by systematic,
industrial-scale poaching. This analogy should serve
as an example for the speed at which a species
can be brought to the brink of extinction once a
consumer market opens in Asia for their parts.
The profit margins certainly provide incentive: jaguar
canines sell for around US$ 100-200 apiece in Bolivia,
while a large canine can be sold for over US$ 1,500 in
China and Vietnam, where they are used in jewellery.
Some believe jaguar canines are sold in Asia as a
substitute for tiger canines, as wild tiger populations
have dwindled in recent decades.
Jaguar fangs found in mail parcel to China. © Ecobol, Bolivia
Jaguar skull and canines. © Clovis de la Jaille
On 15 January 2018, the Chinese embassy issued
a warning to its citizens in Bolivia not to participate
in illegal wildlife trade, noting that jaguar trafficking
is strictly forbidden in both countries. This was in
direct response to concerns raised in Bolivian and
international media (referred to in the warning) about
the role of Chinese residents in Bolivia in trafficking
jaguar parts.48
It is unclear whether the increased awareness and
efforts by the government have led to a reduction
in trafficking. Ecobol did not seize any parts from
mail packages in 2017, compared to 11 parcels
intercepted in 2016. Given the profitability of the
business and the sophistication of the trafficking
networks it must be assumed that the trafficking
continues unabated, yet less openly and using
different routes and methods.
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 24 25 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
Conflict animals or targeted hunting?
Some researchers believe that a significant
proportion of the jaguar parts trafficked in recent
years originate from animals killed as a result of
human-wildlife conflicts. If this is true, the impact of
the illegal trade on Bolivia’s jaguar populations may
at this point still be relatively limited. For example,
Nuno Negrões Soares of the Bolivian Association for
Research and Conservation of Amazonian Andean
Ecosystems, who studies jaguar-human conflicts,
has not yet heard of people going out to poach
jaguars for the trade in his research area (Pando
department, northern Bolivia bordering Peru).49
Similarly, Rob Wallace of the Wildlife Conservation
Society (WCS) had not seen evidence of people
going out specifically to hunt jaguars for their
parts. He concedes, however, that communities or
ranchers previously averse to killing jaguars may be
newly incentivised by prices in the region of US$
500-700: “Of course that changes that dynamic
significantly”.50
Others claim that targeted poaching of jaguars is
already occurring in worrying numbers. In late 2017,
Ángela Núñez, a biologist who specialises in wildlife
conservation and management, estimated that 140
jaguars had been killed to satisfy the demand of
Chinese markets, noting that the problem is most
apparent in Madidi National Park, in the Department
of La Paz. Wálter Andrade Sanjinés, the director of
the Forest and Environmental Police of La Paz, who
has investigated the traffickers, has found that some
hunters go out to trap and shoot the jaguars in the
jungle and extract their fangs with knives and pliers
brought along for this purpose.51
Domestic markets
Beyond the emerging international illegal trade,
there is also a local market for jaguar parts, which are
believed to have medicinal or magical properties.
National Geographic photographer Steve Winter
found jaguar paws and canines in a local market.52
Jaguar skins are furthermore used to manufacture
belts, wallets, etc.53
In 2017 WCS and the Whitley Fund for Nature co-
organised a meeting with the Bolivian government to
develop both a Jaguar Action Plan and a Spectacled/
Andean Bear Action Plan.54
3.3.3 Illegal bird trade
In the early 1980s Bolivia exported one-third of all
parrots from Latin America and 90% of all macaws
traded to the US. Concerns about overharvesting
caused two of Bolivia’s endemic parrot species, the
blue-throated macaw (Ara glaucogularis) and the
red-fronted macaw (Ara rubrogenys), to be listed
on CITES Appendix I in 1983. Since Bolivia banned
all wildlife exports in 1986, other Latin American
countries took over the role as key parrot exporter.
Today major exporters are Argentina, Guyana, Peru
and Suriname, sending birds to key destinations in
Asia, Mexico and the US. Europe was also a major
importer of live wild birds until the European Union
(EU) suspended the imports of live birds in 2005 to
prevent the spread of avian influenza.55,56
International bird trade
According to several respondents, illegal
international trade persists in rare and valuable
Bolivian parrot species. As early as 1991, researchers
reported that since Bolivia’s 1986 wildlife export ban,
Bolivian birds were being flown out of Argentina.57
According to a Bolivian government representative,
today rare parrots (nestlings removed from their nests
and adults caught with nets) are smuggled by road
to Peru from where they are traded to the US and
Europe.58
Since Europe’s 2005 ban on wild bird imports,
traffickers have found ways to circumvent controls,
mainly by smuggling eggs. For example, Portugal is
an important entry point to the EU for illegal parrot
eggs from Latin America. In December 2003 Portugal
intercepted 3,000 parrot eggs59, and between July
and October 2011 another 2,000,60 the majority
reportedly originating from Brazil.61 Other European
countries that have reported significant seizures of
parrot eggs include Austria, Spain and Switzerland.62
Alternatively, Bolivian parrots illegally caught in the
wild are smuggled to neighbouring countries and
“laundered” into legal trade through fraudulent
CITES documentation. Since countries such as
Argentina and Peru still allow exports of wild-caught
parrots, this system for legalising illegally harvested
birds is a well-known method used by bird trafficking
networks around the world.
Popular species in the illegal international trade
include the red-fronted macaw (Ara rubrogenys,
critically endangered in Bolivia), the hyacinth
macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus, considered
vulnerable), the military macaw (Ara militaris,
considered vulnerable) and the blue-throated macaw
(Ara glaucogularis, endemic to Bolivia and critically
endangered). All four subspecies are listed on CITES
Appendix I, making commercial international trade
strictly prohibited. Also popular are the scarlet
macaw (Ara macao), red-and-green macaw (Ara
chloropterus), blue and yellow macaw and the blue-
fronted Amazon (Amazona aestiva).63
Two hundred parrots trafficked through Cochabamba, Bolivia. © Daniel James, Los Tiempos
Brazilian parrot egg smuggler arrested in May 2011 after landing in Portugal. © Divulgação Ibama
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 26 27 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
Domestic bird trade
Of possibly greater concern than the international
trade, given the quantities involved, is the domestic
trade in parrots for local pet markets. According
to Asociación Armonía, the main centres of illegal
bird trade in Bolivia are the cities of Santa Cruz,
Cochabamba and El Alto.64 Research in the Los
Pozos pet market of Santa Cruz de la Sierra in
2004-2005 recorded 7,279 individuals of 31 parrot
species, including four threatened species. The most
frequently sold species was the blue-fronted Amazon
with 1,468 individuals observed, the majority of
which (94%) were believed to have been captured in
the wild.65
Most of the purchased birds remained in Bolivia.
However, the researchers highlighted that Bolivia
appears to serve as a bridge for the wildlife trade
between Brazil and Peru. Chicks of threatened
species such as Lear’s macaw and hyacinth macaw
that arrived from Brazil were destined for markets in
Peru. They further discovered that the yellow-faced
parrot (Amazona xanthops), a threatened species
with only two site records in Bolivia, was offered for
sale in the market. These birds likely originated in
Brazil, given their rarity in Bolivia. Certain species
are “ordered” from Lima, Peru and Mexico. Although
the final market in uncertain, based on an arrest
of traffickers in Spain with Bolivian endemic red-
fronted macaws in 1999, the assumption is that these
threatened species are destined Europe.
Continued monitoring of birds, mammals and reptiles
at the Los Pozos market confirmed that birds are by
far the most popular species in the domestic trade.66
Between January 2005 and December 2009, a total
of 60,618 birds, mammals and reptiles, across 115
species, were counted. Birds accounted for 55,889
in total, of which 45,404 were parrots. Mammals
represented 959 specimens, of which 210 monkeys,
while 3,770 were reptiles, mostly river turtles (3,431).
The animals were sold as pets, and most were
sourced in the department of Santa Cruz (53,940
individuals), followed by Beni (3,713) and Tarija
(2,913). Birds sourced outside Bolivia came from
Brazil, Chile and Peru.
Most of the parrots observed belong to subspecies
not classified as endangered (and actually
considered as pests by farmers). But the research
once again highlighted a trade in endangered
subspecies such as the blue throated macaw,
red-fronted macaw and grey-cheeked parakeet
(Brotogeris pyrrhoptera).
The capture of wild animals is almost exclusively
an activity of low-income Indigenous people. The
animals are transported to market mainly by public
transport, in cardboard or wooden boxes and jute
bags. This was confirmed by Professor Stephen Pires
of Florida International University. Often, poor rural
people (campesinos) will poach local parrots and sell
them to an itinerant middleman who visits villages
periodically and sells on to illicit market vendors in
a nearby city. Poaching and related illegal activities
are seen as a way to earn supplementary income,
especially for farmers who often see these birds as
crop pests. Pires references studies in Bolivia, Brazil,
Mexico and Peru which show that tens of thousands
of parrots are poached and sold routinely in black
markets to supply domestic demand.67
Driving the demand for parrots is a deeply engrained
culture common across much of Latin America.
According to Pires, birds are the pet equivalent of
cats and dogs in North America. In Bolivia, ownership
of wild birds is seen as the norm, and the notion that
selling them is illegal is illogical to most people.68
3.3.4 (Illegal) bushmeat trade
Bolivians have a deep-rooted culture of eating
the meat of wild animals such as deer, peccaries,
armadillo and tapir (i.e. bushmeat). Indigenous
people can legally hunt wildlife for their own
consumption.69 Such subsistence hunting is
considered sustainable and provides an important
source of protein for poor communities.
While the commercial trade in bushmeat is illegal,
there is evidence that such a trade is prevalent in
many rural areas of Bolivia. Several local conservation
experts interviewed for this assessment expressed
concern about the increased killing and trade of
bushmeat to feed a new demand by foreigners
working on infrastructure works and gold mining.
Copious news reports, blogs and social media
suggest that this concern is shared by a wider
audience in Bolivia.
Signs point in particular to Chinese nationals working
in Bolivia as major consumers of bushmeat, impacting
wildlife populations in certain areas. For example, in
February 2018, complaints reverberated in Bolivian
Facebook circles about crocodiles being killed on
the Vía Rurrenabaque in Riberalta, “at the hands
of the China Railway Construction Corporation”,
responsible for the construction of this 597 km
highway. The Facebook post shows images of a
huge dead crocodile on the back of a truck, a smaller
crocodile with its stomach slit open, and over 20
crocodile eggs displayed on a blue cloth (seemingly
originating from the smaller crocodile).70
Biologist Nuno Soares, who does research in the
Pando Department in the north of Bolivia, notes that
it is common for Chinese people working in rural
areas to hire locals to hunt bushmeat for them. This
involves anything from deer, peccaries, armadillos,
tapir, and monkeys to snakes.71
Damian Rumiz of the Fundación Simón I Patiño
believes the commercial bushmeat trade that has
emerged in response to the Chinese appetite for
wild meat is a new dimension that poses a threat
to Bolivia’s wildlife.72 Vincent Vos, a biologist
at the Centro de Investigación y Promoción del
Campesinado (CIPCA) in Riberalta, confirms this. He
has heard reports in some villages of people losing
their dogs to supply Chinese demand for meat. Local
reports further claim that Chinese people are buying
up tortoises for their carapaces, used in traditional
medicine.73
Vos, however, points out that it is not just the Chinese
who have an appetite for wildlife. “Many rural
communities in Bolivia hunt, eat and sell anything
they can find, and there is hardly any enforcement”.
A study in 2003 estimated that 10 million animals
are killed each year in Bolivia during the Brazil nut
harvest season, when many people camp in the forest
for long stretches of time, living off wildlife as a main
food source.74 In an attempt to quantify the amount
of bushmeat hunted along a road from Riberalta to
the Chacobo reserve and the Yata river (a Ramsar
site), Vos estimated that 27,300 kg of meat is taken
from this area annually.75
According to Vos there is another correlation with
the Brazil nut harvest. In 2017, when Brazil nut
production was down by 70%, many people normally
dependent on the harvest for their livelihoods were
forced to turn to bushmeat trade and timber logging
to supplement their income.
In a cultural and historical context where bushmeat
consumption is the norm, it is next to impossible for
authorities to control. “People selling wild meat in
the market would likely get violent if enforcement
officers would try to seize their meat”, Vos believes.
Indeed, a law enforcement officer in Rurrenabaque
was threatened when he tried to confiscate various
wildlife products being sold at a fair in 2017. “They
almost lynched me. This thing is serious; people live
off of this. They bring armadillo meat [and meat] from
[other] wild animals. I found wallets made of jaguar,
lizard belts, and armadillo and wild pig meat. (…) I
tried to explain to them that the law prohibits it, but
they almost hit me. I had to quit what I was going
to do. They are fed up and they are organised in
associations,” he said.76
Gold miners are another key consumer group for
bushmeat, according to Vos. Villagers in the Pando
department claim that all the wildlife around their
villages had been killed for sale to gold miners in the
area.
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 28 29 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
Armadillo killed for food in a pampa south of Riberalta, Bolivia. © Vincent Vos
Rob Wallace acknowledges that overhunting is an
issue in some areas of Bolivia. But overall, he believes
that bushmeat hunting remains at sustainable levels
in Bolivia, pointing out the importance of subsistence
hunting for indigenous communities. In his view,
commercial consumption of wild meat in Bolivia is far
less significant than in other parts of Latin America
(e.g. Ecuador and Panama), or Africa. “In large
portions of the Amazon basin the human population
density is much lower than in Africa... There are
not large urban markets for bushmeat as there are
in Africa and Asia and there are immense areas of
wilderness...where, yes, there is hunting going on, but
it’s not a threat to most wildlife species.” Nonetheless,
Wallace agrees that we need to be aware of the
potential for an increased commercial demand for
wildlife species other than jaguars.77
3.3.5 Government response
Wildlife crime is on the radar of some of the key
government agencies responsible for wildlife
protection - including the Santa Cruz Department and
the General Directorate of Biodiversity and Protected
Areas - and efforts are underway to tackle poaching
and illegal trade. This is particularly true for the issue
of jaguar trafficking, which has received considerable
attention from Bolivian authorities, leading to several
successful criminal proceedings.
The government could do more, however. Tackling
poaching does not appear to be a priority. As noted
above, killing or harvesting protected wildlife for
private consumption or sale to market is common
and rarely pursued. There have, for example, been no
prosecutions to date for the illegal killing of jaguars,
an iconic and highly protected species. In rural
areas people speak freely of killing jaguars, probably
because enforcement poses no deterrent.78
Several experts have noted the inadequacies of
Bolivia’s wildlife law enforcement, pointing out that
police action is insufficient to halt the proliferate
illegal trade in domestic markets. Seizure data show
that although wildlife markets are sometimes raided,
the day-to-day trade is allowed to continue.79 One
explanation from an officer of the government
department responsible for wildlife protection centres
on social norms. “It’s customary here that everybody
has a pet, but there is this law forbidding it,” he said.
“If you try to apply this law I don’t know how many
thousands of parrots and hundreds of monkeys you
would have to deal with.”80 This friction between
law and culture persists, although some Bolivian
authorities - including the central government
through Dirección General de Biodiversidad y Áreas
Protegidas (DGBAP) of the Ministerio de Medio
Ambiente y Agua and the Department of Santa
Cruz - appear to have made some progress in raising
awareness.81
Responsible government officials are aware of
the volume of wildlife smuggling by organised
criminal groups across Bolivia’s porous borders
into Argentina, Chile and Paraguay, but are stymied
by resource constraints. In 2002, an officer of the
Forestry Police commented on the killing of caimans
in remote areas: “We can arrive on foot and [the
traders] will leave in helicopters or light aircraft, or by
boat down the rivers. We know they are doing this
but what can we do to stop it?”82
Capacity is simply too thin: for all of Bolivia’s 1,099
million km2, just 50 police officers in charge of
protecting wildlife, employed by la Policía Forestal
y Preservación del Medio Ambiente (Pofoma) and
assigned to the capital cities of the nine departments,
as opposed to the province.83
Officials interviewed for this assessment
acknowledge that law enforcement remains poor,
both domestically and at Bolivia’s land borders.
Awareness of the serious nature of wildlife crime
is sometimes lacking, including in the judiciary.
Moreover, there is a serious lack of capacity in
Bolivia’s rescue facilities for seized wildlife.84 Bolivia’s
government structure also tends to hamper effective
cooperation and coordination. Three different
levels of administration (central, regional and local)
have a mandate to enforce wildlife protection laws,
posing an additional obstacle to implementation and
enforcement.85
Lastly, there are indications of corruption in the
police and judiciary. Several sources claimed that
corruption of police officers is a challenge to effective
action against wildlife crimes in Bolivia. The judiciary
is also alleged to be corruptible. Doubts about the
judicial system were sparked, for example, in the
criminal case against suspected jaguar trafficker Jian
Fang Xiao (see section 3.3.2), on the disappearance
of computer and graphic material that had been
seized.86
3.3.6 The impacts of infrastructure
development
As elsewhere in the Amazon basin, infrastructure
development in Bolivia is putting natural habitats and
wildlife species depending on them at risk.
A case in point is the highly controversial plan to
build a highway through Bolivia’s Isiboro Sécure
Indigenous Territory and National Park (TIPNIS). The
plan was shelved in 2011 following fierce protests by
indigenous communities and environmental NGOs.
However it was later revived and a law opening
up the park was enacted in August 2017. The road
will divide the park in two. Many expect disastrous
consequences for the way of life of its indigenous
communities, the forest’s integrity and its wildlife.87
Bolivia’s highway project is part of a Brazilian-led
effort - the Initiative for the Regional Integration
of South America, commonly known as IIRSA. It
is a vast network of 531 mega-projects including
hydroelectric dams, highways, bridges, and electrical
power systems that purports to propel the continent
into the 21st century. These projects are indeed filling
a major infrastructure void. However, most are set
within fragile ecosystems and environmentalists warn
that they could do irreparable damage to the world’s
largest tropical forest. If built, the TIPNIS road would
likely be a major route for moving Brazilian soybeans
to Pacific ports for shipment to Asia. Brazil’s oil giant,
Petrobras, also holds exploration rights inside TIPNIS
near the planned highway.88
A never-released study written by an offshoot of the
Bolivian government’s Forestry Service predicted
that for every mile of paved roadway, up to six square
miles will likely be deforested for a new agricultural
frontier based mainly on coca. The report furthermore
predicts that the highway will lead to an increase
in illegal logging and will take its toll on the park’s
animals and wildlife habitat. Several local species
are valuable black-market commodities, including
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 30 31 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
caimans, jaguars, and rare primates. A highway will
inevitably prompt increased hunting and wildlife
trafficking.89
The opening up of the Amazon for infrastructure,
mining etc. greatly impacts indigenous communities.
In Bolivia, BGP Bolivia, a subsidiary of the state-
owned China National Petroleum Corporation
(CNPC), which is operating north of Madidi NP
near the border with Peru, has reportedly had
near encounters with Indigenous people living in
“isolation” (originarios).90
3.4 CONCLUSIONS
Since 1986 Bolivia has had in place strict legislation
forbidding the killing, capture, possession,
commercialisation and export of wild animals. This
ban has been instrumental in curbing the previously
unbridled export of animals harvested from the wild,
which had attracted significant levels of illegal trade.
Currently only spectacled caiman and vicuña can be
legally exported. Yet both continue to be poached
and trafficked due to the value of their body parts
in international markets. There are also indications
that other Bolivian species (rare and valuable parrot
species in particular) continue to be trafficked to
internationally, in addition to the more substantial
domestic wildlife trade.
Poaching of wildlife for bushmeat consumption and
trade is widespread in some rural areas, and there is
a persistent trade in live birds, mammals and reptiles
taken from the wild to be sold as pets in local markets
and beyond. Parrots are the species most targeted
for this trade. The volumes are believed to be at
unsustainable levels in certain areas, although data
are insufficient to estimate impact.
Compliance with wildlife protection laws is
undermined by the fact that, historically, the use of
wild animals for meat or to keep as pets has been
the accepted norm in Bolivian culture. Changing this
norm will take time and concerted efforts to raise
awareness. Some Bolivian authorities have launched
campaigns to raise awareness of the laws protecting
wild animals, but the road is steep.
Capacity to enforce the wildlife protection laws is
inadequate, both within the country and at Bolivia’s
borders with neighbouring countries. Collaboration
between central, regional and local authorities is also
a challenge, exacerbated by corruption within the
police and judiciary.
Infrastructure development is a key factor
driving wildlife poaching, creating demand for
bushmeat, opening up the forest to poachers, and
enhancing human-wildlife conflicts through habitat
fragmentation.
A worrying trend is the trafficking of jaguar fangs
and other parts fueled by Chinese individuals and/
or networks who have been actively procuring
and smuggling jaguar parts to China since 2014
and possibly earlier. Frequent seizures and several
prosecutions demonstrate that the Bolivian
authorities are aware and motivated to tackle the
trade. The media have also contributed to raising
awareness of this threat. More is needed, however, to
effectively disrupt the suspected networks.
4. REPUBLIC OF SURINAME
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Suriname’s rich biodiversity includes at least 715 species of birds, 192 species of mammals, 175 species of reptiles, 102 species of amphibians, 318 species of freshwater fish, and at least 5,100 species of plants.91 Suriname shares its natural diversity with neighbouring Guyana, French Guiana, northern Brazil, and eastern Venezuela. Together these make up the Guiana Shield Ecoregion, an area unique due to its biodiversity and largely uninhabited rainforests.
With 93% forest coverage, the Surinamese like to
refer to their country as “the greenest country in the
world”. Suriname has an estimated population of
568,301, 90% of whom live in the capital, Paramaribo,
or along the coast. Paramaribo is largest city with a
population of 250,000. Suriname is one of the least
densely populated countries in the world, with just
three people per square kilometre.92
The interior is inhabited by Indigenous (Amerindian)
and Maroon people. Traditionally self-sufficient
hunters, fishermen and farmers, more recently many
have become dependent on mining and on supplies
obtained in the coastal zone. Parts of the interior are
inhabited by migrants from Brazil engaged in gold
mining.93
Despite its natural resource wealth, 70% of the
population lives below the poverty line. Suriname’s
economy has fluctuated since the civil war of 1986-
1992, followed by the economic crisis in the 1990s.
After a decade of growth, Suriname’s economy has
again been in decline since 2015, due largely to the
heavy dependence on mineral prices (gold and oil
in particular) and thus the country’s vulnerability to
global commodity price swings. This, in combination
with the cessation of aluminium mining, has
significantly reduced government revenue and
national income. Annual economic growth dropped
steadily from just under 5% in 2012 to -10.4% in
2016. 94
4.2 LEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE
Suriname is a major Latin American exporter of live
reptiles and birds. To the extent that these species
are CITES-protected, the trade is governed by the
Convention, which entered into force in Suriname
on 15 February 1981. Upon acceding to CITES, the
government established a quota system to regulate
wildlife exports.
A UNEP-WCMC analysis of Suriname’s legal CITES
trade data95 shows that between 2005 and 2014:
1. Live reptiles (mainly iguanas) were the most highly
exported commodity, the vast majority wild-
sourced. The large majority (70%) went to the US,
followed by Germany (12%).
2. Suriname also exported significant numbers of
wild-sourced live birds, predominantly parrots,
including to Singapore (20%), the Russian
Federation (15%) and Thailand (15%). Guyana
(48%) and Suriname (34%), followed by Peru, are
the main exporters of wild-sourced parrots in the
Amazon region.
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 32 33 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
3. Wild-sourced amphibians were another main
export commodity, primarily to the US (40%) and the
Netherlands (38%). Suriname and Guyana also lead in
the export of wild-sourced frogs.
The estimated average annual value of Suriname’s
CITES exports between 2005 and 2014 was US$ 2.4
million. Per Table 1 below, live parrots are by far the
most valuable species in trade.
Source: Suriname General Bureau of Statistics96
UNEP-WCMC also assessed trade trends to
identify species of potential concern. Based on
the assessment, UNEP-WCMC recommended
further scrutiny of the reptile and parrot trade from
Guyana and Suriname and the dyeing poison frog
(Dendrobates tinctorius) from Suriname. Species of
concern for which Suriname was identified as the
top global exporter include: blue and gold macaw),
black-headed parrot (Pionites melanocephalus),
green aracari (Pteroglossus viridis), channel-billed
toucan (Ramphastos vitellinus), green iguana (Iguana
iguana) and the dyeing poison frog. The analysis
raises concerns as to whether harvest from the wild
may be detrimental to these species.97
In Latin America, Suriname and Guyana stand out
when it comes to exports of live, wild-sourced birds
and reptiles and amphibians. Several other countries
in the Amazon region like Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador
and Venezuela have successfully turned to captive
breeding or ranching, whereas some, including
Bolivia and French-Guiana, do not allow any export of
wild-sourced wildlife.
The Surinamese government has tried to encourage
Suriname’s wildlife traders to transition to captive
breeding, including holding a seminar on the
subject in 2013. At the time, two captive breeding
facilities existed for reptiles, including one for green
iguanas.98 In 2016, the Forest Service issued a
license to a Surinamese company to breed parrots in
captivity. The government foresees issuing additional
licenses if this experience is successful.99 Despite
this, the captive breeding of wildlife has not yet taken
off. According to traders, the costs of establishing the
necessary infrastructure are prohibitive.100
The trade in bushmeat and live animals is an
important source of income in Suriname’s interior.
Maroon and Amerindian trappers sell birds, frogs,
reptiles and fish to traders from Paramaribo, who
market the meat in Paramaribo and French Guiana
and export the live animals.101 Key wildlife collection
areas include Apoera, Kwamalasamutu, Tepu and
Washabo. There is a small-scale domestic trade in
live animals in Paramaribo, but most live animals are
thought to be destined for export.102
Market shifts for Suriname’s legal wildlife trade
Understanding which species are popular in the
legal trade, and where they are traded to, can provide
insight into possible illegal trade patterns.
Historically, the Netherlands and the EU more
broadly have been a key destination for wild birds
from Suriname. This changed abruptly in October
2005 when bird flu was found in a parrot from
Suriname that died in quarantine at Heathrow Airport.
In response, the UK government called for a ban
on wild bird imports to the EU, which was rapidly
implemented. The ban covers captive live birds, other
than poultry imported for commercial purposes, and
applies to imports from all countries. Still in place,
the ban has had a major impact on the global bird
trade: the number of wild birds imported across the
globe dropped by 90%, from 1.3 million in 2005 to
around 130,000 in 2011. Trade to the US and Mexico
increased, however, and the EU was replaced by Asia
and South Africa as a destination market.103
A wildlife trader interviewed for this assessment
confirmed that today Asia is by far the most important
destination for birds from Suriname, particularly
related to a high demand for macaws. The US
remains a destination for Surinamese parrots but
the Asian market is more lucrative as consumers are
willing to pay far higher prices. The export of small
songbirds has substantially declined, however. This
is due to competition from other Latin American
countries (including Peru) who are offering songbirds
at ‘dump prices’.
The trader noted that the reptile trade has become
much less lucrative in recent years. Demand for
Surinamese reptiles has fallen as prices increased
due to Suriname’s economic situation. Moreover
many Surinamese reptile species are being
successfully bred in captivity abroad. By contrast,
the market for wild-sourced Surinamese river fish
for the aquarium trade is booming, making it even
more lucrative than the parrot trade, according to
the interviewee whose trade is almost entirely thus
focused.
Discrepancies in reported CITES trade data
An analysis of Suriname’s wildlife exports in the
CITES trade database104 shows a significant
discrepancy in exports reported by Suriname and
imports reported by countries importing from
Suriname. For example, between 2007 and 2016,
Suriname reported a total export of 10,375 parrots,
whereas importing countries reported receiving
18,000 parrots. Discrepancies were also observed
for the trade in reptiles, although with less of a
gap: between 2007 and 2016 Suriname reported
exporting 65,734 reptiles, whereas importing
countries reported a total import of 79,831 reptiles.
SPECIES
Turtles
Other reptiles
Monkeys
Other mammals
Parrots
Other birds
Bees
Total
27,718
123,381
35,565
17,563
541,140
30,072
3,413
778,852
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
14,678
145,189
31,790
11,836
1,718,014
83,058
6,349
1,010,914
13,748
133,462
19,349
12,839
449,969
34,007
1,750
665,124
18,645
151,272
23,785
4,089
511,250
19,276
-
728,317
16,677
142,901
45,510
3,755
677,227
23,428
50
909,548
Table 1.
Exports of wild animals from Suriname in US$, 2011-2015
S U R I N A M E
S U R I N A M E
PARAMARIBO
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Such discrepancies between export and import tallies
are a problem worldwide in reporting of CITES trade.
Reasons include deliberate misdeclaration; reporting
of the number of export permits issued or quotas set,
rather than the actual number of specimens in trade;
and/or situations where export permits are issued
one year but utilised the next.105 The lack of clarity
around the discrepancies observed in Suriname’s
CITES trade data poses a challenge to understanding
the wildlife trade dynamics there – an issue which
should be addressed.
Relevant agencies
The Suriname Forest Service (Dienst‘s Lands
Bosbeheer) under the Ministry of Spatial Planning,
Ground and Forest Management (Ministerie van
Ruimtelijke Ordening, Grond- en Bosbeheer)
is responsible for the implementation of the
laws governing the country’s natural resources.
Within the LBB, the Nature Conservation Division
(Natuurbeheer) is responsible for wildlife
management in general, both inside and outside
protected areas. The Nature Conservation Division
is the CITES Management Authority for Suriname,
issuing export permits for CITES flora and fauna as
well as for non-CITES wildlife species. The Nature
Conservation Division is also responsible for
wildlife law enforcement, employing game wardens
(currently 40 staff) to implement control in certain
areas and on roads to and in the interior. The advisory
body of the Nature Conservation Division - the Nature
Conservation Committee - is the Scientific Authority
of CITES in Suriname, at present reportedly staffed by
one person.
It is possible that the Nature Conservation Division’s
mandate encompasses the three key responsibilities
of permit issuance, law enforcement, and scientific
advice may hinder an independent execution of
these tasks.
4.2.1 Legal framework
The Hunting Act 1954106 and the implementing
legislation (Hunting Decree 2002107) determine
which species of wildlife may be hunted and when,
elaborated in the Hunting Calendar108. The law
distinguishes four categories of wildlife: game
species, cage species, predominantly harmful species
and protected species. Mammals that enjoy complete
protection include the jaguar, giant anteater
(Myrmecophaga tridactyla), red-faced spider monkey
(Ateles paniscus), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and
bush dog (Speothos venaticus).
According to Articles 2 and 3 of the Hunting Act it is
forbidden to catch, kill, try to kill or catch, possess,
offer for sale, sell, buy, trade, present as a gift, to
deliver, transport, import or export protected wildlife
species and parts and products made thereof.
These prohibitions are not applicable for appointed
catchers who have received a permit to catch, kill, or
collect wildlife for a useful cause (Art.5 section b).
The Hunting Act is only partially in force in
Suriname’s southern area (‘zone’) where the
hunting of all game species and cage species
is allowed all year round (Art. 3 section 2). The
exception is protected species, for which hunting
is closed year round. This exception was created
to allow for subsistence hunting by people living
in the interior. The transport of animals and their
parts from the southern zone to the northern zone
(where Paramaribo is located) is only allowed in
accordance with the statutes of the Hunting Act and
Hunting Decree, i.e. through a Ministerial Decision or
permit. Thus common practice of taking wild meat
(bushmeat) killed in the southern zone to the city to
sell, with some people trading in high volumes on a
commercial basis, does not have a basis in the law.
(More on the bushmeat trade in Section 4.3.4 below).
The Hunting Calendar is outdated with respect to
the latest understanding of sustainable hunting. For
some species, the seasons indicated in the Hunting
Calendar overlap, which means that species such as
deer are being hunted in their breeding season.109
Based on Article 4 of the Economic Offences Act110
violations of the Hunting Law are considered a
criminal offence punishable by a maximum penalty
of six years for intentional violations and four years
for non-intentional violations. Prosecutions appear
to be rare. Judging from media reports, most
offenders are dealt with out of court after paying a
fine (even in serious cases such as the smuggling
of 19 jaguar teeth by three Chinese individuals in
January 2018, see discussion below). In addition
to a small fine, violators (usually hunters) have their
booty confiscated.111 The exception appears to be
the poaching or trafficking of sea turtle eggs. Public
prosecutors are currently demanding two years
imprisonment plus the confiscation of boats and
other equipment for anyone caught with eggs.112
The CITES Secretariat has classified Suriname’s
implementing legislation as Category 2. This
means the legislation is deemed not to meet all
of the requirements for the implementation of the
Convention. Together with Ecuador, Suriname is thus
lagging behind the rest of Latin America, all of whom
are classified as Category 1. According to the CITES
website, Suriname enacted new legislation which
was submitted to the Secretariat in November 2017
for analysis. Suriname and the Secretariat must now
reach agreement on a revised legislative analysis,
including a possible Category 1 status.113
In coordination with relevant governmental and
non-governmental stakeholders, Conservation
International is currently leading an effort to revise
Suriname’s environmental and wildlife legislation.
4.2.2 Export quota
Suriname’s international wildlife trade (both CITES
and non-CITES species) is regulated through a
quota system. Quotas are set by the Head of the
Suriname Forest Service, purportedly based on
the advice of the CITES Scientific Authority. Export
quotas have been set for a wide array of species
and are assigned to registered wildlife exporters
(currently around 10-15114). Exporters have their
own trappers, mainly members of the indigenous
communities in the interior, who are licensed by
the Forest Service. Exporters are responsible for
transporting the collected species to their facilities,
which consists of an isolation room, infirmary and
export-ready hall. Veterinarians from the Veterinary
Service make frequent inspections, but undertaking
the health checks necessary to meet requirements
imposed by importing countries is challenging due to
a scarcity of the necessary testing kits in the country.
A further obstacle to export is that one of the main
international airlines serving Suriname only allows
animal cargo for breeding purposes.115
The entire process, from trapping to export, is
managed by the Suriname Forest Service, who is
supposed to undertake an inventory after the closure
of the hunting season. Trappers, exporters and
transporters must log all species collected at field
stations run by game wardens. But the scarcity of
resources required for the wardens to travel to the
interior casts doubt on whether these logs are being
properly maintained and inspected.
The quota system has been criticised for inadequate
scientific basis regarding the population status of the
species concerned, resulting in overly high quotas -
particularly given that the exports for many species
are lower than the quotas would allow.116 Suriname
is considering a revision of the quotas, but donor
preferences for work on communities and protected
areas mean that this is currently not a funding
priority.117
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4.3 ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE
Since the last comprehensive assessment conducted
in 2001,118 little research has been done on the
illegal wildlife trade in and out of Suriname. At
that time, Ouboter noted that while the control of
legal exports in Suriname seemed to be sufficient,
the domestic trade in bushmeat, song birds and
medicinal plants was completely uncontrolled.119
Duplaix mentioned that the capture of animals was
often done in the closed season and in protected
areas, and that there was systematic smuggling of
wildlife to and from Guyana and French Guiana.120
This section discusses findings based on open
source information, own research, interviews with
local experts and other information obtained during a
field mission to Suriname in March 2018.
4.3.1 Analysis of wildlife crime incidents
Few records (47 in total between December 2003
and January 2018) were identified regarding wildlife
crime incidents implicating Suriname as a source,
destination or transit country. Available information
(see Annex 1) represents an incomplete picture, but
provides the following insights:
1. Several incidents, dating back to 2007, were
identified of jaguars being killed and/or trafficked
for their parts, representing at least 15 jaguars
killed between 2007 and January 2018. Other
wild cat species (jaguarundi (Herpailurus
yagouaroundi), ocelots and puma (Puma
concolor)) are also being targeted but to a lesser
extent. There is evidence of trafficking to China.
In 2010, two passengers travelling to China from
Suriname were arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol
airport for smuggling taxidermy crocodiles and
other crocodile products as well as seven canines
from an unidentified cat species. In January 2018,
three Chinese individuals were caught with 19
jaguar teeth in their luggage at Paramaribo’s
Johan Adolf Pengel Airport.
2. Frequent seizures, most of them at Schiphol,
of songbirds hidden in passenger’s luggage or
even on their bodies attest to the existence of a
persistent illegal trade in songbirds. In most cases
the birds involve non-CITES species. They can
therefore only be seized for violation of Dutch
animal welfare legislation due to the inhumane
way in which they are smuggled, which carries
with it a certain mortality rate. Unfortunately,
penalties for animal welfare violations are much
lower than for trafficking of protected species.
The records show a total of 362 songbirds seized
between 2008 and 2017, of which:
a. 132 birds were identified and included two
cock-of-the-rocks (Rupicola rupicola - CITES I),
78 twatwas (Oryzoborus crassirostris) and 10
hummingbirds of various species. 75 of the 78
twatwas were seized from a Guyanese citizen
in Nickerie, Suriname, who had smuggled in
the birds from Guyana. This is indicative of
illegal cross-border trade in the Guianas;
b. 232 birds were of unidentified songbird
species.
3. Within Suriname there is an ongoing illegal trade in
sea turtle eggs. Six cases were identified involving
39,748 eggs seized between 2008 and 2017. One
seizure involved 23,500 eggs found on a boat on
the Marowijne River near their collected site, Galibi.
Given that just a tiny fraction of illegal shipments is
generally detected, this number represents the tip
of the iceberg.
4.3.2 Illegal trade in jaguar parts
There is evidence that Chinese residents of Suriname
were buying up jaguar parts as early as 2003 when
a former employee of the Forestry Service was
approached by a Chinese supermarket owner in
Paramaribo, expressing an interest in purchasing
jaguar teeth and claws.
In response to numerous reports of jaguars being
specifically hunted in order to meet demand for body
parts, in 2010 WWF commissioned a study on the
illegal exploitation of jaguars and other forest cats
in Suriname. The study involved visits to 4 forest
sites in Suriname (Kwamalasemutu, Plantage Lasai,
Santigron, Witsanti) where jaguar exploitation was
known to take place. Fifty interviews were conducted
with hunters, along with a market survey in
Paramaribo (two Chinese restaurants, three markets,
four Chinese supermarkets and 12 jewellery shops)
with the aim of assessing the possible trade in jaguar
parts.121
The report is brief but disturbing. As early as in 2005
there were reports that it was common for hunters
who encountered jaguars to kill them, remove their
teeth and sell these in Paramaribo. Evidence was
found of systematic jaguar hunting by the villagers
of Kwamalasemutu in south Suriname. Despite
their awareness of the jaguar’s protected status, at
least seven jaguars were killed in this village each
year, purportedly out of fear as well as retaliation for
jaguars attacking their poultry and dogs. The study’s
author - who was interviewed in March 2018 for this
assessment - related that villagers consider a jaguar
kill as a ticket to Paramaribo, as they bring jaguar
heads with them to the city to sell to Chinese buyers
for SRD 750, thereby funding their trip.
The WWF study also found that Chinese people
place orders with known hunters to acquire jaguar
parts. Jaguar teeth were reportedly smuggled to
China due to the higher market value there, but
there is also a market among Chinese consumers in
Suriname.
Jaguar meat is believed by Chinese people to have
medicinal power, especially for ailments in old age.
The bones (particularly the skull) are used to prepare
medicines for rheumatism. The teeth are used in
golden pendants which were found for sale in several
Chinese jewellery shops in Paramaribo at prices
ranging from SRD 80-1,200, depending on their size
and quality. Canines are more valuable than other
teeth. For teeth only, the price varied from SRD 45-
400 apiece.
A survey of various markets in Paramaribo did not
encounter the meat of wild cats, but it was possible
to place orders for jaguar and other species. Menus
in Chinese restaurants in Paramaribo did not feature
wild cat meat, however several restaurants were
found willing to prepare meat provided by the client
upon request.
The report also touched upon the illegal trade in
jaguarundi (CITES II) and ocelots (CITES I). The
jaguarundi was found to be even more popular in
trade than the jaguar: the skin is more valuable to the
Chinese, and therefore more expensive. Apparently
its meat also tastes better. Ocelots are most often
killed in human-wildlife conflict as they frequently
attack poultry. They were not found in the trade:
usually the animal is disposed of without removal of
skin or body parts.
As of 2018 the situation is either unchanged or
possibly worsened. Several respondents for this
assessment related that it is common knowledge
that Chinese people based in the interior (usually
supermarket owners) buy up jaguars. They actively
approach villagers, loggers, gold miners, hunters and
even government officials to register a demand for
jaguar parts. The general sense is that people don’t
set out with the sole purpose of poaching jaguars,
but if they come across one in the interior they will
shoot it, knowing its value, and sell it to the Chinese.
Recently jaguar hunting has become more covert
in response to increased public attention, but it
continues nonetheless.
People who have killed jaguars tend to claim that
they did so to protect themselves and/or their
livestock. This effectively removes their culpability,
as Article 16 of the 1954 Game Law exonerates
people who have violated this law if it was for
necessary and direct protection of their own or
someone else’s person or property. This provides a
problematic loophole, as it is close to impossible for
law enforcement officers to prove a killing was made
for something other than self-protection.
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On 13 February 2018 a photo of a dead jaguar was
circulated in Suriname’s Facebook community. It
was posted by an account called Actionnieuws
Suriname, with the comment “Here in Su. In a gold
miners camp”. A source confirmed that it was taken
in Benzdorp, in the southeast near Suriname’s border
with French Guiana.
In a new trend, Chinese purchasers have recently
started to request suppliers for the entire, intact
carcass, where previously just pieces and/or the head
would suffice. Several sources reported that Chinese
now like to boil the entire carcass into a pulp which
is dried and pulverised and made into medicine.
Large bones and teeth that survive this process are
marketed separately.
One source related that a network of Chinese people
is involved in trafficking jaguar parts from the interior
to Paramaribo for processing, using supermarkets,
jewellery stores and other shops as cover. These
activities feed both a domestic demand by Chinese
people in Suriname as well as an international
supply to China. Teeth and processed medicines
are smuggled by air passengers returning to China,
as well as in timber containers transported by sea.
According to this source, over 80 jaguars were killed
in 2017.
Most respondents believe that it is mostly “new
Chinese” (i.e. those associated with investment in
Suriname since the early 2000s) who are trafficking
and consuming jaguars. Some maintain, however,
that older generations of immigrants are also known
to hunt and consume jaguars.
No one knows how many jaguars are left in Suriname.
Ouboter has observed severe population decline in
some of his research areas over the last five years.122
Others who spend a lot of time in the forest say they
encounter jaguar tracks on a regular basis. Although
this is entirely anecdotal, there may still be hope of
maintaining a viable population if the threats are
addressed.
Photo of dead jaguar circulated on Facebook in February 2018.
On 23 January 2018, three Chinese travelers were
arrested at the airport in Suriname’s for an attempt to
smuggle out 19 jaguar teeth, as well as raw gold. The
suspects were released after paying a “hefty fine”.123
The sum is unknown, but it could be argued that
these individuals should have been prosecuted to the
full extent of the law instead of being dealt with out of
court. If an example is not made of significant cases
such as this one, it is easy to conclude that wildlife
crime does pay in Suriname.
Illegal jaguar trade on social media
Several Surinamese people have been found
advertising jaguar canines (tijger tanden / tigri tifi) on
Facebook, as well as asking to buy them. The adverts
were posted in the open Facebook group ‘Things for
sale’ in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Similar ads are likely
being posted in other Suriname-based Facebook
groups.
Adverts on Facebook offering ‘tiger’ teeth for sale.
Moreover, there are indications that Chinese people
in Suriname are advertising jaguar parts on WeChat,
a social media application widely used by Chinese
people around the world. One source noticed an
acquaintance who had returned to China from
Suriname and posted an image of a big cat tooth on
WeChat with the caption: “What a beautiful jaguar
tooth, contact me if needed.” (see image below).
If the tooth is genuine it is not unlikely the woman
obtained it in Suriname.Suspected jaguar tooth observed on WeChat.
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 40 41 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
Suspected jaguar teeth displayed on WeChat account of individual residing in Paramaribo.
Caption translation: ‘what a beautiful jaguar tooth, contact me if needed.’
In another WeChat profile identified, a photo depicts
13 big cat canines that resemble jaguar teeth. It is
unclear whether this person has the canines in his/
her possession or is advertising them. In any case,
under Surinamese law it is illegal for anyone to
possess jaguar parts. WeChat is commonly used to
advertise illegal wildlife commodities among Chinese
or Asian wildlife traffickers seeking to target Chinese
clients.124
Responses of authorities and NGOs
On 3 October 2017, the sub-directorate Forestry
Service (Bosbeheer) of the Ministry of Spatial
Planning, Land and Forest Management (Ruimtelijke
ordening, Grond- en Bosbeheer) issued a reminder
notice that jaguars and the other five cat species
living in the wild are totally protected. The Ministry
stated it is aware that “slaughters are taking
place”, predominantly by hunters, among jaguar
populations, and warned that violations of the
Hunting Act are punishable by law.125 On 3 March
2018 - World Wildlife Day - Minister Samsoedien
called upon the general public to “keep their hands
off the jaguar”.126
The Chinese embassy in Suriname was also busy,
issuing a notice on 25 February 2018 to Chinese
citizens residing in or going to Suriname not to
purchase or carry “tiger canines” (jaguar canines)
out of the country. This referred to the recent arrest
of Chinese citizens by Surinamese Customs for
attempting to carry jaguar canines out of the country.
The notice was also posted on the website of the
Consular Service of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.127
Conservation International has elevated the jaguar
as a priority for its newly established wildlife
crime programme, along with eight other species.
Among other things, they will undertake population
assessments, collect information about the scale of
the illegal trade and work with local communities on
the basis of conservation agreements.
WWF-Guianas and Panthera’s office in Guyana
have partnered to organise a workshop for NGOs,
government and other relevant stakeholders with
the aim of developing an action plan for jaguar
conservation in Suriname.
4.3.3 Illegal trade in live animals for the pet
trade
Suriname’s wildlife species (particularly birds,
reptiles and amphibians) are popular in the pet
trade. A wide range of species have been legally
traded for decades. Media reports, other open source
information and historical or anecdotal information
from experts indicate that live birds and reptiles are
sourced illegally in Suriname to be sold locally or
smuggled out of the country. A lack of quantitative
data has made it challenging to assess the scope and
nature of this illegal trade.
It should be noted that there is a major information
gap concerning the legal trade in species not
protected by CITES. Beyond the effective monitoring
framework provided by CITES, the trade in non-CITES
species largely happens below the radar. Its impact
on wild populations too often only becomes clear
when it is (almost) too late.
ROUTES AND SMUGGLING METHODS
Smuggling by air
Air transport is a favoured means of smuggling live
birds and reptiles globally. In 1996, Czech Republic
customs officers intercepted a crate of 47 parakeets
from Suriname, en route to Poland. The parakeets
were protected under CITES and had been falsely
listed as a legally exportable species. The birds, with
an estimated value of US$ 150,000, had reportedly
been sold to a Kuwaiti sheik who had been unable to
take delivery of his illegal merchandise.128
There are frequent interceptions - most often at
Schiphol airport - of individuals carrying live birds on
their body or in their luggage. These usually involve
seed finch species popular in the Netherlands’
Surinamese community for their song, however
more unusual species are also targeted. Examples
include the two live cock-of-the-rocks and other rare
bird species found in the luggage of three women
arriving at Schiphol in 2008129 and the man who
was caught at Schiphol in 2012 trying to smuggle 10
hummingbirds and two tanagers in his underwear.
This same person had been arrested in French-
Guiana in 2011 with “bags full of hummingbirds” (see
image below) and had apparently tried a different
route. 130
Live hummingbirds found hidden in underwear of Dutch smuggler, French-Guiana 2011.
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One source mentioned illegal specimens of protected
birds and reptiles smuggled out of the country by
air, hidden in legal cargo shipments. While such
convergence of legal and illegal trade occurs
frequently around the world, this information could
not be verified.
The wildlife trader interviewed for this assessment
said that KLM has recently installed a scanner for all
cargo shipments leaving Suriname’s Johan Adolf
Pengel airport, and that KLM strictly scrutinises
shipments going through this scanner. It is unknown
whether other airlines have such controls in place.
The main international destinations for airlines
servicing Paramaribo include Amsterdam, Miami and
several Caribbean airports. Amsterdam and Miami
are important international hubs; it is likely that illegal
wildlife from Suriname arrives in or transits through
these airports to destinations elsewhere in the US,
Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Smuggling by land
Suriname shares long and porous borders with
Guyana, French-Guiana and Brazil. Systematic
smuggling of live birds and reptiles has long
benefited from these largely unguarded borders.
In 2001, for example, the chief French customs
inspector noted the smuggling of parrots from
Suriname to French-Guiana, where they were sold on
the roadside between Saint Laurent du Maroni and
Kourou.131 It appears that the smuggling continues
virtually unhindered to this day. Nieuw-Nickerie in
northwest Suriname, on the border with Guyana, is a
popular entry point. This is where the Guyanese man
was arrested in 2009 for smuggling 75 twatwas into
Suriname. In 2017 Nickerie was the site of the seizure
of 80 macaws which had been smuggled in from
Guyana.
Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana each has
their own laws for regulating wildlife harvest and
trade. French Guiana does not allow any commercial
wildlife exports, whereas Suriname and Guyana
have established a substantial commercial wildlife
trade system based on export quotas. There can be
huge difference between these quotas. For example,
Suriname has zero or low export quotas for many
of the commercial parrot species listed for Guyana.
The 2017 quota for blue-cheeked parrot (Amazonia
dufresniana) was 70 individuals in Suriname, whereas
in Guyana the quota was 520. For other species,
Suriname’s quota is higher: their 2017 quota for
brown-throated parakeet (Aratinga pertinax) was
2,033, while for Guyana it was 500.132
Suriname and Guyana also have different closed
seasons for the harvest of certain species. For
example, Guyana’s closed season for macaws is
between 1 April and 1 August, while in Suriname
it lasts from 1 January through 1 July. Traffickers
abuse these diverging regimes by smuggling wildlife
across the borders and laundering it into legal trade
under the relevant export quotas. Guyanese wildlife
traders complained about this in a 2012 meeting with
Guyanese government officials.133 The differences
have effectively created an additional incentive for
smuggling.
As for the border with Brazil, there is historical
evidence that Surinamese wildlife traders have
been involved in laundering Brazilian reptiles such
as emerald tree boas (Corallus caninus, CITES II) by
smuggling them from Brazil and then exporting them
as Suriname specimens using fraudulently obtained
CITES documentation. In 2001 the Brazilian NGO
Renctas drew attention to the outflow of Brazil’s wild
animals across its Amazon region borders - mainly to
Colombia, the Guianas and Venezuela. Illegal trade
in this region is intense due to lack of surveillance on
the Brazilian side.134
No evidence was found of present-day smuggling
from Brazil to Suriname, but sources report that this
probably still occurs, undetected due to the poor law
enforcement presence in south Suriname.
Smuggling by sea
No evidence was found of the smuggling of birds
and reptiles by sea. However there are indications
of a sea trafficking route to the Caribbean islands, a
popular destination for wildlife illegally arriving by
sea from biodiversity-rich countries in the northeast
of South America. Trinidad and Tobago, in particular,
is a known transhipment point for wildlife traffickers
due to its strategic geography connecting South
America to North America and Europe. Drugs, arms,
ammunition and humans are all trafficked in the
region, but according to the International Fund for
Animal Welfare (IFAW) illegally traded wildlife species
- primarily exotic birds, reptiles and primates – top
the list.135 In Trinidad and Tobago it is rumoured that
exotic wildlife from Brazil, Guyana, Suriname and
Venezuela was smuggled in by small, local fishermen
from a larger vessel anchored off the coast.136
That there is some truth in this is apparent from an
incident in 2009, when a boat from Venezuela was
found carrying over 500 bull finches, 300 picoplat
Blue and yellow Macaw chicks seized in Trinidad, 2017.
songbirds and an unidentified number of monkeys.
The case came to light when four police officers from
Trinidad intercepted the boat at gunpoint and stole
the shipment of animals.137
DOMESTIC DEMAND FOR RARE SPECIES
According to sources there is a small, but potentially
damaging local demand for very rare and highly
protected species such as the Guianese cock-of-
the-rock, jaguars etc., which some members of
Suriname’s elite like to keep as pets. These people
are well connected, and are reportedly able to
legalise illicit specimens through obtaining a permit
in case they are detected.
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EXAMPLES OF SPECIES THREATENED BY
ILLEGAL TRADE/OVEREXPLOITATION
Dyeing poison frog
The dyeing poison frog (CITES App. II) is a colourful,
widely traded frog endemic to the eastern part of the
Guianas region. Brazil and French Guiana prohibit
the export of specimens, thus exports originate
mostly from Suriname and to a lesser degree from
Guyana. Both countries have a voluntary export
quota whose scientific basis is not clear. In 1999 the
CITES Animals Committee requested that Suriname
provide biological data on which they based their
export quotas for wild-caught dyeing poison frog,
but the information was not disclosed. In 2013
Suriname considerably exceeded its export quota
for this species. Despite the fact that Brazil prohibits
the export of all fauna and flora, five dyeing poison
frog ‘morphs’ - only known from Brazil - have been
in the terrarium trade for years. In 2014 it became
clear that specimens from Brazilian populations were
being smuggled out of Brazil to the EU where they
sold for high prices and were easily laundered as
“legal” thanks to captive breeding in Europe. Experts
pointed out that Surinamese wildlife traders probably
obtained these specimens from Indigenous people
living in the south who are in frequent contact with
neighbouring villages in Brazil and could easily
smuggle wildlife from Brazil to Suriname.138
In response, in March 2015 the EU Scientific Review
Group issued a negative opinion for the import into
the EU of wild specimens of the dyeing poison frog
from Suriname. The rationale was that introduction
into the EU from Suriname at current or anticipated
levels of trade is likely to have a harmful effect on
the conservation status of the species. As a result,
EU CITES Management Authorities are not allowing
the import of this species into the EU.139 That said,
a European CITES officer who wished to remain
anonymous has suggested that, this being a popular
species commonly bred in captivity, at some point a
demand for wild-caught specimens may resurface in
order to enrich captive-bred populations in the EU,
which may result in the re-emergence of smuggling.
Red-footed tortoise
The red-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonarius,
CITES App. II) comes from northern South America.
In Suriname they occur in the coastal areas and in
the south. They are popular in the domestic and
international pet trade and are also known to be
consumed for food locally. In 2014, UNEP-WCMC
conducted a technical review of the trade in this
species from Suriname, to inform discussions by
the Scientific Review Group on its sustainability.
According to the report, the species’ population
in Suriname is believed to have experienced
substantial declines due to the levels of international
trade, which took place without assessment of the
sustainability or potential future effects. UNEP-
WCMC referred to a 2012 report by the IUCN/SSC
Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group which
pointed out that individuals collected in Guyana and
French Guyana were being (illegally) transported
to Suriname, where they were sold in the domestic
market or exported.140
Twatwa
The twatwa is a seed finch species native to Brazil,
Colombia, Ecuador, the Guianas, Peru and Trinidad
and Tobago. It is a popular songbird in Suriname and
elsewhere in the region where it is used in singing
contests. Trained birds sell for several hundred euros,
while prize-winning birds can command prices in
the thousands. Other seed finch subspecies, such as
picolets (Oryzoborus angolensis), rowtis (Sporophila
minuta) and gelebeks (Sporophila schistacea) are
also used for this songbird trade but twatwas are the
most popular due to scarcity and a purportedly finer
song.
Twatwas were systematically harvested from the
wild for several decades until it became clear –
unfortunately too late – that the species had been
extirpated in Suriname.141 Picolets and rowtis have
also disappeared from many areas.142
The twatwa received legal protection with the entry
into force of the Hunting Decree 2002. The species
became a protected species in 2008 after a five
year transition period meant to stimulate captive
breeding and to legalise existing specimens through
registration. The hunting season is closed year-round.
Harvest of wild specimens to refresh bloodlines of
captive populations remains possible with a permit.
Other songbird species can still be harvested
according to the Hunting Calendar.
Since they became protected and effectively extinct
in Suriname, an illegal trade has emerged, with
twatwas reportedly smuggled from Venezuela,
entering Suriname via Guyana. As discussed in
Section 4.3.1, twatwas and other songbirds are also
smuggled to the Netherlands. Similarly, Guyanese
individuals frequently smuggle these birds to the US
to supply Guyanese immigrants living there.143
Some advocate that the Surinamese government
should propose twatwas for CITES listing. While it is
not likely that this would deter smugglers, it would
increase the seriousness of smuggling offences and
thus the penalties that could be imposed. Currently,
in the absence of international legal protection Dutch
authorities can only penalise smugglers for violation
of Dutch animal welfare legislation, which has a
relatively low penalty regime.
Stingray
A final example of the danger of uncontrolled
exploitation is the overfishing of the Potamotrygon
Boesemani stingray (Potamotrygon Boesemani). For
nearly a decade this freshwater species has been
heavily targeted for the aquarium trade. At its peak,
traders were selling the ray for US$ 5,000-7,000 each,
mainly to Asian aquaria and breeding centres. Once
breeding in captivity became successful, the market
for wild-caught specimens deteriorated. Nonetheless
a large specimen still sells for around US$ 2,000.144
Dendrobates tinctorius. © Joseph Schmuck (cites.org)
Red-footed tortoise. © Tyler Stewart Twatwa. © Ringmaster Amsterdam
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In response to concerns about overexploitation
of this species the export has become regulated
with export quotas. This, in combination with the
successful captive breeding taking the pressure off
Suriname’s wild populations, will hopefully allow the
species to recover.
Boesemani stingrays in holding facility of Surinamese wildlife trader, March 2018. © Pauline Verheij
4.3.4 Illegal bushmeat trade
Within Suriname there is a significant trade in
bushmeat. Members of indigenous communities in
the interior are legally allowed to hunt wildlife year-
round for subsistence. There is a grey area, however,
where they sell it to miners and loggers working
in the interior and/or bring it to town and sell it to
generate an income. Many argue that in principle this
use of wild meat remains within the parameters of the
law. In recent decades, however, a substantial and
highly commercial trade in bushmeat has emerged
which is arguably in violation of the provisions of the
Hunting Act. Experts have cautioned that this trade
is unsustainable, although no data is available on its
size.
In 1999 the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) noted that “the dependence on wildlife
species for protein by Surinamese Indigenous
people and its urban inhabitants poses a threat to
the country’s living resources, and for many species
the demand for wild meat is far greater in size and
seasonal impact than the live-animal trade. There
also appears to be a small but steady flow of wild
game meat to neighbouring countries, where market
prices are much higher than what can be obtained in
Suriname”.145
In 2001, Ouboter commented that, based on
observations in the field and in the markets,
the bushmeat trade seemed to be increasing
considerably. He pointed out that the growth
of some local communities was causing local
overexploitation. Moreover, some communities were
starting the commercial exploitation of bushmeat
and fish, selling their catch to middlemen in
Paramaribo and Nieuw Nickerie. He observed that as
a consequence of hunting by local communities and
“sport hunters” from town, all popular game animals
were declining or had disappeared from easily
accessible areas near villages, along roads, etc.146
Duplaix raised the same concerns in 2001,
highlighting that hunting pressure was no longer
sustainable due to overcrowding of many of the
larger villages, and that the commercial bushmeat
and wildlife trade had resulted in overexploitation
and habitat destruction within a radius of 25-50 km
around these villages. In the Apoera-Washabo region,
hunters reported having to walk at least three days in
the forest to find larger species like peccary or deer.
Duplaix noted that there were year-round commercial
hunters in the interior who exported bushmeat and
smoked fish by boat or small plane to town and that
this trade was a growth industry.
In 2010 a survey was carried out in 15 local markets
in order to assess the bushmeat and wild plant trade
in Suriname.147 The survey found meat of mammals
and reptiles for sale, as well as river, swamp and sea
fish, medicinal plants, bird feathers and live birds
for the pet trade. At two markets protected species
were offered for sale: giant anteater skin was sold for
medicinal purposes at Markt Zuid and an ocelot skin
was sold in Albina as a souvenir. Sellers indicated
that most of the bushmeat originated from western
Suriname. Often the wife of a hunter sells the meat
in the market. Interviews with sellers in the markets,
however, showed that hunters from the interior
usually sell the meat to middlemen from Paramaribo
who in turn sell the meat to the market vendors.
The survey report noted that all accessible areas
of the interior are overhunted and that hardly any
wildlife can be found. Although the bushmeat trade
provides important livelihood benefits (protein for
subsistence and some income for the livelihoods
of poor rural communities), these benefits are
discounted by the usually unsustainable nature
of the activity, causing decline in the local game
populations. These declines threaten both the
species concerned and the forest itself, impacting
seed dispersal and other important ecosystem
functions. The report concluded that it is extremely
important to find a solution to these unsustainable
practices and turn the bushmeat trade into an activity
that is positive for both the local communities and
nature conservation.
The impression obtained during the field mission
is that the commercial bushmeat trade has far from
declined since 2001. Several respondents noted
that wild meat is commonly available in markets and
restaurants across Paramaribo.
Respondents differed in opinion about the impact
of the bushmeat trade. Some believed overhunting
might be a problem locally, but felt that the interior is
too vast and in many places too difficult to penetrate
for species to be seriously impacted on a national
level. Others pointed out that people are killing
wildlife indiscriminately, including in protected areas,
targeting protected species and ignoring the Hunting
Calendar.
The government appears to have little appetite
to take action against the unbridled commercial
bushmeat trade, reportedly out of concern for
people’s livelihoods particularly in this time of
economic crisis. It could alternatively be argued
that research is required to understand the scale
and scope of this trade and its impact on wild
populations, precisely for the sake of protecting
indigenous communities’ livelihoods, species
conservation and the interests of the ecotourism
sector.
Wild meat on menu of restaurant in Paramaribo, March 2018. © Pauline Verheij
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 48 49 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
4.3.5 Illegal trade in sea turtle eggs
Sea turtles are probably the best studied of all
species in Suriname; no other species appears to
have received more conservation investment. The
history of marine turtle conservation and monitoring
in the coastal area of the Guiana Shield Region dates
back to the 1960s. It one of the most important
nesting areas for sea turtles worldwide. Four of
the seven existing species of sea turtles nest on
Suriname’s beaches: the leatherback (Dermochelys
coriacea), green turtle (Chelonia mydas), olive
ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) and, sporadically, the
hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata).148 Suriname
supports one of the largest leatherback nesting
colonies word-wide149 - a species listed as critically
endangered by the IUCN.
Beyond pressures from drift net fisheries and sand
mining, the sea turtles frequenting Suriname’s
beaches are threatened by poaching of their eggs
which are considered a delicacy. In 2000, research
commissioned by WWF showed that the olive ridley
population of Suriname had dramatically declined
in the previous decades due to egg poaching and
shrimp fisheries. Over 30 years the numbers of
nests had dropped from over 3,000 to just over 100.
By contrast, poaching of leatherback turtle eggs
was significantly reduced and could no longer be
considered a serious threat in Suriname in 2002.150
For several decades WWF-Guianas has invested in
monitoring and protection of Suriname’s sea turtles,
including by funding the Suriname Forest Service to
tackle egg poaching and trafficking and sensitising
the judiciary. Today poachers and traffickers are
heavily punished and even risk imprisonment for sea
turtle egg trafficking.
Poaching continues to be a serious problem,
however, as discussed in Section 4.3.1. In 2009
officials from Suriname at a regional workshop
on illegal wildlife trade in Guyana informed other
participants that Surinamese authorities seize
thousands of leatherback turtle eggs every nesting
season. They explained that there is a growing
demand for this commodity from Surinamese
consumers, and that this represented a shift from
subsistence consumption by the indigenous
population which was now further endangering the
species.151
WWF monitors the nesting of sea turtles, the number
of turtle nests destroyed by poachers and law
enforcement efforts, however the information was not
available in time for inclusion here.
4.3.6 Impact of gold mining and timber
logging
Although illegal extraction of natural resources (other
than wildlife) does not fall within the scope of this
assessment, such activities have a negative impact
on wildlife in Suriname, as in the wider Amazon. In
the last two decades Suriname’s interior has become
much more accessible. Logging infrastructure has
opened the forest to hunters who don’t always abide
by the legislation. The influx of loggers and gold
miners has also resulted in increased hunting of
wildlife for direct consumption.
Concentrated mostly in west Suriname, gold mining
has a particularly disruptive impact on the forest’s
ecosystem and environment. Wide-scale illegal
mining and logging have even been observed in
Suriname’s signature protected area, Brownsberg
National Park.152
From air surveillance of mining camps, the
government estimates that some 40,000 people
live in and around the gold mines – 18,000 of whom
are officially registered. Half are service providers,
the other half are gold miners.153 Such numbers of
people can be expected to have a significant impact
on wildlife populations in areas surrounding the
camps. Experts speak of “defaunation” and empty
forest syndrome, although the extent of this is
unclear.
Workers employed by logging and mining companies
may well be involved in wildlife poaching. One
respondent who has worked in the logging industry
for years related that all loggers in the interior have
a hunting rifle (often illegal). These are frequently
used to violate the hunting laws, such as by shooting
wildlife in the closed season or by exceeding the
legal quantity (the “bag limit”). Jaguars have been
reported to come into conflict with residents of
the camps and in some cases have been killed,
purportedly out of self-defence or in retaliation for
livestock killings. Data is minimal.
The interior will likely continue to be opened up for
exploitation. Several have commented on the culture
of nepotism that has taken root in Suriname in the
last decade, benefiting a small political and business
elite. Gold and timber concessions have been issued
to well-connected individuals who profit greatly from
the extraction of timber and other natural resources,
either directly or by renting out concessions to third
parties. Fortunately, Suriname still has large swathes
of pristine forests, protected by their remoteness and
inaccessibility.
4.3.7 Government response
In a proposal to the Global Environment Facility (GEF)
for funds to support the management of the Suriname
Central Nature Reserve154, Conservation International
noted that wildlife protection in Suriname was
challenged by:
1. Lack of capacity and inadequate regional
cooperation in regulating transboundary trade;
2. Lack of financial resources to hire and train law
enforcement staff;
3. Lack of awareness by authorities regulating
wildlife trade that illegal trade is a threat.
In 2010, Ouboter et al highlighted a lack of law
enforcement capacity, pointing out that the Nature
Conservation Division was not always present in
the protected areas of the interior (Sipaliwini N.R.,
Dead Howler monkey, a strictly protected species (CITES I), openly for sale along the Afobaka road, Suriname. © Erlan Sleur, Probios.
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 50 51 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
Central Suriname N.R. and Brownsberg Nature
Park). Although capacity had been boosted with the
recruitment of game wardens and some capacity
building, the Ministry budget for logistical control
activities of the game wardens was insufficient to
allow them to perform their tasks.155 Similarly, in
2010 WWF Guianas remarked that the department
in charge of law enforcement did not appear to have
enough manpower and tools (vehicles) to properly
enforce regulations.156
The situation in 2018 appears to be unchanged and
possibly worsened with the economic downturn.
Several interviewees commented on the serious
lack of law enforcement presence in the interior.
The Forest Service employs 40 wildlife inspectors to
cover the entire country. Controls in the interior are
conducted sporadically due to lack of fuel budget for
the vehicles. Hence the interior has been described
as a ‘wild west’, where poaching of jaguars and other
protected wildlife species can occur virtually with
impunity.
Given the economic situation, the spending budget
for the Nature Conservation Division is unlikely to rise
in the near to mid-term. There appears to be greater
awareness within the responsible ministry of the need
to protect Suriname’s wildlife for future generations,
but the issue of wildlife crime could be higher on the
political agenda.
Corruption is perceived to be an issue at all levels of
government, and may be higher than ever before.
Various anecdotes relate how well-connected
members of the elite caught for illegal possession
of protected wildlife species evade justice after
interventions from high-level government officials
on their behalf. Meanwhile, wildlife and timber law
enforcement officers’ salaries were frozen in 2016 but
inflation has since soared, effectively halving their
incomes. The potential for bribery of low- to mid-level
government staff has thus increased in recent years.
4.4 CONCLUSIONS
Suriname is one of the biggest exporters of live
birds, reptiles and amphibians in Latin America,
topping the list for wild-caught parrots together with
Guyana. However, in recent years the wildlife trade
(particularly in reptiles and amphibians) has declined
as a result of the EU import ban, shifting markets,
price competition from other source countries and
successful captive breeding of popular species.
Questions have been raised in CITES and other
fora about the sustainability of Suriname’s trade
in animals sourced from the wild. The export
quotas underpinning this trade are in urgent need
of updating to reflect current knowledge of the
non-detrimental harvest of species. This would
require significant investment in scientific research
of key wildlife species and how they are affected
by the trade. In a time where the trade in wild
animals is increasingly scrutinised for its impact on
conservation, animal welfare and human health risks,
Suriname might consider a paradigm shift in moving
away from this trade and seeking more sustainable
ways of exploiting its natural wealth. Many other
source countries have already done this, limiting or
stopping the export of wild animals.
Whereas the legal export of wildlife appears to be
sufficiently regulated, the hunting and capture of
wildlife in the interior as well as the smuggling across
country borders is inadequately controlled due
to lack of capacity and resources. Animals caught
illegally (e.g. in the closed season) or smuggled
from or to neighbouring countries are thus easily
‘laundered’ into the legal trade.
Cross-border smuggling in the Guianas is systematic
and driven by traffickers abusing the diverging
frameworks for regulating wildlife capture and trade,
facilitated by the long and porous borders. This is a
situation that even traders have complained about
and which provides a clear case for improving
regional collaboration and harmonising legal
frameworks.
Little concrete evidence was found of illegal wildlife
trade out of Suriname. While this may mean that it
is not a significant issue it is more likely that illegal
wildlife flows go undetected due to a lack of law
enforcement effort.
Within Suriname, the commercial trade in bushmeat
from the interior to the city of Paramaribo deserves
more attention. This is illegal but condoned by the
Forest Service. No one knows how much wildlife is
killed for this trade and how wild populations are
affected. The bushmeat trade is believed to have
increased in the last two decades, but to what extent
is unclear.
The poaching and trafficking of sea turtle eggs has
been a concern for decades given its impact on
key endangered species dependent on Suriname’s
beaches for their survival. Sea turtles and the
poaching of their eggs receive more attention than
any other species, yet poachers and smugglers
continue to be willing to risk interception. Given the
economic crisis, this threat is likely to persist.
Concerns have recently arisen about the illegal
jaguar trade. Chinese individuals in Suriname have
been actively procuring, consuming and trafficking
jaguars for at least 15 years, and there is evidence
of smuggling to China. Suriname seems to be
unprepared to effectively address this illegal trade
which appears to be driven by well-organised and
well-connected networks of Chinese individuals
operating in Suriname. The government appears to
hope that raising awareness may stop people from
engaging in illegal trade. Suriname cannot afford to
be complacent however, as there is a real risk of its
jaguars being driven to extinction if firm action isn’t
taken to stop the trade and arrest and prosecute key
individuals involved. The (near) extirpation of African
and Asian species for which there is a high demand
in East and Southeast Asia holds important lessons
about the speed with which poaching can spiral
out of control when there is a demand supplied by
organised criminal networks.
It has been suggested that the emergence of the
jaguar trade is associated with the arrival in the
early 2000s of large Chinese companies involved
in infrastructure development and natural resource
extraction. It is certainly possible that the influx of
‘new’ Chinese citizens has expanded the demand
for jaguar parts within Suriname and facilitated the
smuggling to China using Chinese workers returning
to China. Demand for jaguar parts already existed
among older generations of Chinese in Suriname,
however. Moreover, there are indications that at least
some of the individuals engaged in the trafficking
are already well-established, owning supermarkets,
restaurants, jewellery shops, etc. Regardless of
whether the trade is driven by ‘new’ or ‘old’ Chinese,
approaches need to urgently be developed to tackle
the problem while there is still time.
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 52 53 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
NOTES1 For more information see: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/
en/wildlife-and-forest-crime/wildlife-and-forest-crime-analytic-
toolkit.html
2 Such as the prize-winning initiative to decrease the
overharvesting of local wildlife and provide alternative
income streams for the Waorani, an indigenous group
from the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve in Ecuadorian Amazon
in partnership with TRAFFIC, and BIOS, a prestigious
Ecuadorian chocolate company: http://www.traffic.org/
home/2014/6/5/amwaetraffic-project-wins-prestigious-undp-
award.html
3 For more information see: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/
en/wildlife-and-forest-crime/wildlife-and-forest-crime-analytic-
toolkit.html
4 A regional integration project that includes topics like
business, infrastructure, environment, tourism and culture.
5 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/declaration-
london-conference-on-the-illegal-wildlife-trade-2018/
london-conference-on-the-illegal-wildlife-trade-october-2018-
declaration
6 R7 TV, May 2016: Comércio ilegal de animais silvestres é o
terceiro crime mais lucrativo do mundo: http://noticias.r7.com/
cidades/noticias/comercio-ilegal-de-animais-silvestres-e-
o-terceiro-crime-mais-lucrativo-do-mundo-20120611.html.
Accessed 25 January 2018
7 Smithsonian Magazine December 2009: Wildlife
Trafficking: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/wildlife-
trafficking-149079896/. Accessed 25 January 2018.
8 Tráfico illegal de vida silvestre Bolivia, Ministerio de Medio
Ambiente y Agua, Dirección General de Biodioversidad
y Áreas Protegidas 2013, https://www.slideshare.net/
vladyvostok/guia-control-trfico
9 Neotropical, or New World, parrots comprise about 150
species in 32 genera found throughout South and Central
America, Mexico and the Caribbean islands. Two species
(one extinct) formerly inhabited North America.
10 UNODC 2016, World Wildlife Crime Report. Trafficking in
protected species.
11 InSight Crime 19 July 2012, Brazil cracks down on Animal
Trafficking, https://www.insightcrime.org/news/brief/brazil-
cracks-down-on-animal-trafficking/. Accessed 5 March 2018.
12 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Panthera onca,
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15953/0. Accessed 26
March 2018.
13 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/
journal.pone.0194719. 26 March 2018.
14 See for example Nature 23 February 2018, China’s lust
for jaguar fangs imperils big cats, https://www.nature.com/
articles/d41586-018-02314-5. Accessed 13 March 2018.
15 See article Mongabay 11 September 2018, Eduardo
Franco Bertón “Perú: mafias arremeten contra la población
de jaguares en Iquitos”https://es.mongabay.com/2018/09/
trafico-ilegal-jaguares-peru-iquitos/. Accessed between
completion of research and report publication.
16 This section is based on an article in Mongabay, 24
November 2015: Poaching upsurge threatens South
America’s iconic vicuña, https://news.mongabay.
com/2015/11/poaching-upsurge-threatens-south-americas-
iconic-vicuna/. Accessed 6 March 2018.
17 IUCN GECS, Poaching of Vicuña and the Illegal
Commercialization of its Fiber: a Persisting Problem. http://
cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/gecs_vicuna_poaching_en.pdf
18 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Tremarctos ornatus,
http://www.iucnredlist.org/pdflink.9355162. Accessed 26
March 2018.
19 Johnna Flahive, Plundering Eden, Part Three: Andean
Bears and Jaguars, 8 February 2016: http://advocacy.
britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2016/02/plundering-eden-
part-three-andean-bears-and-jaguars/ Accessed 31 January
2018.
20 WWF, http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/species/
profiles/mammals/spectacled_bear/. Accessed 27 March
2018.
21 UNEP 2016, The state of biodiversity in Latin America
and the Caribbean, https://www.cbd.int/gbo/gbo4/outlook-
grulac-en.pdf. Accessed 26 March 2018.
22 Science 31 January 2018, Dam building binge in
Amazon will shred ecosystems scientists warn, http://www.
sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/dam-building-binge-amazon-
will-shred-ecosystems-scientists-warn. Accessed 26 March
2018.
23 Sean Mowbray, Oil roads to ecological ruin: Ecuador’s
bushmeat and wildlife trade, Mongabay 29 October 2015:
https://news.mongabay.com/2015/10/oil-roads-to-ecological-
ruin-ecuadors-bushmeat-and-wildlife-trade/. Accessed 31
January 2018.
24 American Museum of Natural History. Exploring Bolivia’s
Biodiversity https://www.amnh.org/explore/curriculum-
collections/exploring-bolivia-s-biodiversity/exploring-bolivia-
s-biodiversity/. Accessed 12 February 2018.
25 Forest Legality Initiative, http://www.forestlegality.org/risk-
tool/country/bolivia. Accessed 12 February 2018.
26 American Museum of Natural History. Exploring Bolivia’s
Biodiversity.
27 CIA, The World Fact Book, https://www.cia.gov/library/
publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bl.html, Accessed 14
March 2018.
28 Ibid.
29 China Dialogue 24 Feb 2017, China’s investment splurge
in Latin America continues, https://www.chinadialogue.net/
blog/9632-China-s-investment-splurge-in-Latin-America-
continues/en. Accessed 26 March 2018.
30 Xinhua 22-10-2016, Morales hails China’s cooperation,
investment in Bolivia, http://www.xinhuanet.com/
english/2016-10/22/c_135772911.htm. Accessed 26 March
2018.
31 CIA, The World Factbook.
32 Sinovas, P., Price, B., King, E., Hinsley, A. and Pavitt, A.
2017. Wildlife trade in the Amazon countries: an analysis
of trade in CITES listed species. Technical report prepared
for the Amazon Regional Program (BMZ/DGIS/GIZ). UN
Environment - World Conservation Monitoring Centre,
Cambridge, UK.
33 Rosalind Reeve, Policing International Trade in
Endangered Species: The CITES Treaty and Compliance, 20
September 2004.
34 An official of Bolivia’s CITES Management Authority had
collaborated with the Bolivian bird export association to
print blank permits in order to facilitate laundering of illegal
specimens into trade.
35 W. Chandler, Audubon Wildlife Report 1988/1989.
36 See for example Mauricio Herrera Hurtado and Bennett
Hennessey (In press), Monitoreo del comercio ilegal de la
fauna silvestre en el periodo 2005-2009 en Santa Cruz de la
Sierra, Bolivia.
NOTES
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 54 55 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
37 El Universo 19 July 2013, Extracción de casi 5.000
caimanes sigue impune en Bolivia, https://www.eluniverso.
com/vida-estilo/2013/07/19/nota/1182566/extraccion-casi-
5000-caimanes-sigue-impune-bolivia. Accessed 13 February
2018.
38 Blue Channel 24, Return thousands of alligators to their
habitat in Bolivia, https://bluechannel24web.wordpress.
com/2013/12/17/return-thousands-of-alligators-to-their-
habitat-in-bolivia/. Accessed 12 February 2018.
39 Renctas 2001, 1st National Report on the Traffic of
Wild Animals, http://www.renctas.org.br/wp-content/
uploads/2014/02/RELATORIO-INGLES_final.pdf. Accessed 16
February 2018.
40 WWF, http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_
resources/best_place_species/current_top_10/jaguar.cfm.
Accessed 16 February 2018.
41 Angela Nuñez and Enzo Aliaga-Rossel, Jaguar fangs
trafficking by Chinese in Bolivia, SSC Cat Specialist Group
CATnews 65, Winter 2017.
42 Roberto Navia, Fang trafficking to China is putting Bolivia’s
jaguars in jeopardy, Mongabay 26 January 2018, https://news.
mongabay.com/2018/01/fang-trafficking-to-china-is-putting-
bolivias-jaguars-in-jeopardy/. Accessed 16 February 2018.
43 Roberto Navia, Fang trafficking to China is putting Bolivia’s
jaguars in jeopardy, Mongabay 26 January 2018, https://
news.mongabay.com/2018/01/fang-trafficking-to-china-is-
putting-bolivias-jaguars-in-jeopardy/. Accessed 16 February
2018.
44 See e.g. Daniel Manzaneda, La presencia China en Bolivia
no trae solo corrupción y tráfico de influencias, sino también
tráfico de animals silvestres, SENA 29 June 2016, http://
senaforo.net/2016/06/29/fob2064/. Accessed 16 February
2018.
45 Mongabay, Fang trafficking to China is putting Bolivia’s
jaguars in jeopardy, by Roberto Navia, 26 January 2018
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/fang-trafficking-to-
china-is-putting-bolivias-jaguars-in-jeopardy/
Accessed between completion of research and report
publication.
46 Interviews were recorded in December 2018, between
completion of research and report publication.
47 Personal communication with Yandery Kemf, Director of
the Santa Cruz Department of Natural Resources.
48 Chinese embassy in Bolivia, 15 January 2018, http://
cs.mfa.gov.cn/gyls/lsgz/fwxx/t1525696.shtml. Accessed 16
February 2018.
49 Personal communication with Nuno Negrões Soares,
Bolivian Association for Research and Conservation of
Amazonian Andean Ecosystems, February 2018.
50 Personal communication with Rob Wallace, WCS,
February 2018.
51 Roberto Navia, Fang trafficking to China is putting Bolivia’s
jaguars in jeopardy, Mongabay 26 January 2018, https://
news.mongabay.com/2018/01/fang-trafficking-to-china-is-
putting-bolivias-jaguars-in-jeopardy/. Accessed 16 February
2018.
52 Black Talk Radio Network 5 December 2017, Inside
the Black Market Sale of Jaguar Parts: http://www.
blacktalkradionetwork.com/2017/12/05/video-inside-the-
black-market-sale-of-jaguar-parts/. Accessed 26 January
2018.
53 Personal communication with Nuno Soares, February
2018.
54 Personal communication with Rob Wallace, WCS,
February 2018.
55 Sinovas, P., Price, B., King, E., Hinsley, A. and Pavitt, A.
2017. Wildlife trade in the Amazon countries: an analysis
of trade in CITES listed species. Technical report prepared
for the Amazon Regional Program (BMZ/DGIS/GIZ). UNEP-
WCMC.
56 FAO 2011, International trade in wild birds, and related
bird movements, in Latin America and the Caribbean, Animal
Production and Health Paper No. 166.
57 Thomsen, J.B. and T. A. Mulliken, 1991. Trade in
Neotropical psittacines and its conservation implications.
In New World parrots in crisis: solutions from conservation
biology (S. R. Beissinger and N. F. R. Snyder, Eds.).
58 Yandery Kemf, Director of the Santa Cruz Department of
Natural Resources.
59 Fauna News Blogspot, 16 October 2013, Ovos de mil
euros, http://faunanews.blogspot.nl/2013/10/ovos-de-mil-
euros.html. Accessed 14 February 2018.
60 Information Portuguese law enforcement officer.
61 DN Portugal, 16 December 2017, Ovos apreendidos a
traficantes dão origem a aves exóticas no Zoo, https://www.
dn.pt/portugal/interior/ovos-apreendidos-a-traficantes-dao-
origem-a-aves-exoticas-no-zoo-de-lisboa-8990322.html.
Accessed 14 February 2018.
62 UNODC 2016, World Wildlife Crime Report, Trafficking in
protected species.
63 Personal communication with Damian Rumiz, Fundación
Simón I Patiño, February 2018; also see Mauricio Herrera
Hurtado and Bennett Hennessey (In press), Monitoreo del
comercio ilegal de la fauna silvestre en el periodo 2005-2009
en Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
64 Asociación Armonía, Tráfico de aves silvestres en Bolivia,
Boletín informative, Noviembre 2008. http://www.loromania.
com/downloads/Boletin_Armonia_14.pdf. Accessed 16
February 2018.
65 Mauricio Herrera and Bennett Hennessey, Quantifying
the illegal parrot trade in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia,
with emphasis on threatened species, Bird Conservation
International (2007).
66 Mauricio Herrera Hurtado and Bennett Hennessey 2018
(In press), Monitoreo del comercio ilegal de la fauna silvestre
en el periodo 2005-2009 en Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
67 Stephen Pires, Jacqueline Schneider, Mauricio Herrera
and José Tella, Spatial, temporal and age sources of variation
in parrot poaching in Bolivia. Bird Conservation International
14 December 2015.
68 Sean Mowbray, Bolivia’s parrot trade supplied by birds
seen as “crop pests”, Mongabay 21 December 2015: https://
news.mongabay.com/2015/12/bolivias-domestic-parrot-
trade-supplied-by-birds-seen-as-crop-pests/. Accessed 14
February 2018.
69 Article 30 of the Bolivian Constitution (Constitución
Política del Estado) and article 6 of Ley 300.
70 El Diario 6 February 2018, China Railway extermina fauna
en vía Rurrenabaque – Riberalta, http://m.eldiario.net/index.
php?n=10&a=2018&m=02&d=06. Accessed 6 February 2018.
71 Personal communication with Nuno Negrões Soares,
February 2018.
72 Personal communication with Daniel Rumiz, February
2018.
73 Personal communication with Vincent Vos, Centro de
Investigación y Promoción del Campesinado (CIPCA),
February 2018.
74 José Luis Santivañez, 2003, Impacto de la cacería sobre
la fauna silvestre en bosques de producción castañera en
la Amazonía de Bolivia, Serie Técnica 3/2003. Programa
PROMAB. Riberalta, Bolivia.
NOTES NOTES
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 56 57 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
75 Vincent Vos, Informa Evaluacíon de Fauna PGIBT Santa
María, CIPCA 25-09-2014, Unpublished.
76 Roberto Navia, Fang trafficking to China is putting Bolivia’s
jaguars in jeopardy, Mongabay 26 January 2018, https://
news.mongabay.com/2018/01/fang-trafficking-to-china-is-
putting-bolivias-jaguars-in-jeopardy/. Accessed 16 February
2018.
77 Personal communication with Rob Wallace, WCS,
February 2018.
78 Personal communication with Nuno Negrões Soares,
February 2018.
79 Herrera and Hennessey 2007, Pires 2015, Herrera and
Hennessey 2018.
80 BBC 5 March 2002, Bolivia struggles to halt animal trade,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1855649.stm.
Accessed 16 March 2018.
81 Mongabay 20 December 2016, Wildlife for sale: Jaguars
are the new trafficking victims in Bolivia, https://news.
mongabay.com/2016/12/wildlife-for-sale-jaguars-are-the-
new-trafficking-victims-in-bolivia/. Accessed 16 February
2018.
82 BBC 5 March 2002, Bolivia struggles to halt animal trade.
83 Roberto Navia, Fang trafficking to China is putting Bolivia’s
jaguars in jeopardy, Mongabay 26 January 2018, https://
news.mongabay.com/2018/01/fang-trafficking-to-china-is-
putting-bolivias-jaguars-in-jeopardy/. Accessed 16 February
2018.
84 Personal communication with Yandery Kemf, Director of
the Santa Cruz Department of Natural Resources, February
2018.
85 Personal communication with Anonymous, February 2018.
86 Roberto Navia, Fang trafficking to China is putting Bolivia’s
jaguars in jeopardy, Mongabay 26 January 2018.
87 Bolivia approves highway through Amazon biodiversity
hotspot, The Guardian 15 August 2017: https://www.
theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/15/bolivia-
approves-highway-in-amazon-biodiversity-hotspot-as-big-as-
jamaica. Accessed 31 January 2018.
88 In Bolivia, a Battle Over A Highway and a Way of Life, Yale
Environment 360, 27 August 2012: http://e360.yale.edu/
features/in_bolivia_a_battle_over_a_highway_and_a_way_
of_life. Accessed 31 January 2018.
89 Ibid.
90 Fears for isolated Bolivian tribe met by Chinese oil firm
in Amazon, The Guardian 27 October 2016, https://www.
theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2016/
oct/27/fears-isolated-bolivian-tribe-chinese-firm-amazon.
Accessed 31 January 2018.
91 Republic of Suriname Biodiversity Profile August 2009,
http://www.gov.sr/media/232015/country_profile_suriname_
aug2009.pdf. Accessed 16-3-2018.
92 World Population Review, http://worldpopulationreview.
com/countries/suriname-population/. Accessed 16-3-2018.
93 Republic of Suriname Biodiversity Profile August 2009.
94 CIA, The World Fact Book, https://www.cia.gov/library/
publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ns.html. Accessed 14
March 2018.
95 Sinovas, P., Price, B., King, E., Hinsley, A. and Pavitt, A.
2017. Wildlife trade in the Amazon countries: an analysis
of trade in CITES listed species. Technical report prepared
for the Amazon Regional Program (BMZ/DGIS/GIZ). UNEP-
WCMC, Cambridge, UK.
96 General Bureau of Statistics in Suriname, 7e Milieu
Statistieken Publicatie 2016, http://www.statistics-suriname.
org/index.php/statistieken/downloads/category/34-milieu-
publicatie-2012#. Accessed 21 February 2018.
97 Ibid, sections 5 and 7.
98 Starnieuws 16-01-2013, Seminar over bescherming
handel in diersoorten, http://www.starnieuws.com/index.php/
welcome/index/nieuwsitem/15059 and Waterkant 18-03-
2013, Eerste Surinaamse leguanenkwekerij in Coronie,
https://www.waterkant.net/suriname/2013/03/18/eerste-
surinaamse-leguanenkwekerij-in-coronie/. Accessed 8-3-
2018.
99 See explanation of Suriname’s quota system by Romeo
Lala, Suriname’s CITES MA in Sinovas et al 2017. Wildlife
trade in the Amazon countries: an analysis of trade in CITES
listed species, UNEP-WCMC, page 33.
100 Personal communication with Surinamese wildlife trader,
March 2018.
101 Nicole Duplaix, Evaluation of the animal and plant trade in
the Guianas: preliminary findings, March 2001.
102 Andel, van T.R, MacKinven, A.V. and Bánki, O.S.,
Commercial Non-Timber Forest Products of the Guiana Shield.
An inventory of commercial NTFP extraction and possibilities
for sustainable harvesting, IUCN 2003.
103 Luís Reino et al, Networks of global bird invasion altered
by regional trade ban, Science Advances 22 Nov 2017.
104 https://trade.cites.org/#.
105 New study highlights significant discrepancies in live
animal exports from Indonesia to the Netherlands, TRAFFIC
21 Nov 2016, http://www.traffic.org/home/2016/11/21/new-
study-highlights-significant-discrepancies-in-live-anima.html.
Accessed 21 February 2018.
106 Wet van 3 april 1954 houdende voorzieningen tot
bescherming van de fauna en tot regeling van de jacht in
Suriname (Jachtwet 1954)
107 Staatsbesluit van 27 december 2002, houdende regels
ter uitvoering van de artikelen 1, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 23 en 23a
van de Jachtwet 1954 (Jachtbesluit 2002)
108 See http://www.gov.sr/media/741247/jachtkalender.pdf
109 Interview Conservation International.
110 Wet van 9 januari 1986, houdende vaststelling van
regelen voor de opsporing, de vervolging en berechting van
economische delicten (Wet economische delicten).
111 Duplaix 2001.
112 Interview WWF Guianas.
113 CITES Secretariat, Status of legislative progress for
implementing CITES (updated December 2017), https://cites.
org/sites/default/files/eng/prog/Legislation/CITES_national_
legislative_status_table.pdf. Accessed 21 February 2018.
114 Personal communication with Surinamese wildlife trader,
March 2018.
115 See explanation of Suriname’s quota system by Romeo
Lala, Suriname’s CITES MA in Sinovas et al 2017. Wildlife
trade in the Amazon countries: an analysis of trade in CITES
listed species, UNEP-WCMC, page 33.
116 Paul Ouboter, Assessment of Traded Wildlife Species,
April 2001; Nicole Duplaix, Evaluation of the animal and plant
trade in the Guianas: preliminary findings, March 2001.
117 Romeo Lala in Sinovas et al 2017, page 33.
118 Duplaix 2001, Ouboter 2001.
NOTES NOTES
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 58 59 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
119 Paul Ouboter, Assessment of Traded Wildlife Species,
April 2001.
120 Duplaix 2001.
121 WWF Guianas, Exploitation of the jaguar, Panthera onca
and other large forest cats in Suriname, March 2010.
122 Personal communication with Paul Ouboter, February
2018.
123 Starnieuws 13 February 2018, Jaguar tanden bij
vertrekkende reizigers aangetroffen http://www.starnieuws.
com/index.php/welcome/index/nieuwsitem/45665. Accessed
14 March 2018.
124 This was seen, for example, in a 2015-2016 investigation
by the Wildlife Justice Commission of a Vietnamese criminal
network trafficking huge amounts of ivory, rhino horn,
tiger and other parts and products to a predominantly
Chinese clientele: https://wildlifejustice.org/wp-content/
uploads/2018/01/Phoenix-Briefing-Public.pdf. Accessed 5
March 2018.
125 Harde maatregelen bij overtreding Jachtwet, 3-10-
2017: http://www.gov.sr/ministerie-van-rgb/actueel/harde-
maatregelen-bij-overtreding-jachtwet.aspx. Accessed 8
March 2018.
126 Star Nieuws 3 March 2018, Minister Samsoedien:
Afblijven van de jaguar, http://m.starnieuws.com/index.php/
welcome/index/nieuwsitem/45943. Accessed 3 March 2018.
127 See http://sr.china-embassy.org/chn/lsfw/t1537671.htm
and http://cs.fmprc.gov.cn/gyls/lsgz/fwxx/t1537672.shtml
respectively. Accessed 8 March 2018.
128 IPS 21-11-1996, Central Europe’s Million Dollar Parrot
Smuggling Trade, http://www.ipsnews.net/1996/11/
environment-central-europes-million-dollar-parrot-smuggling-
trade/. Accessed 20-03-2018.
129 Waterkant 10-09-2008, Surinaamse siervogels in koffer op
Schiphol, https://www.waterkant.net/suriname/2008/09/10/
surinaamse-siervogels-in-koffer-op-schiphol/. Accessed 20-
03-2018.
130 Obsession magazine 27-01-2014, Werkstraf van 240 uur
en 10 dagen cel voor smokkel kolibries uit Suriname, http://
www.surinaamsevogels.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/
Smokkel-kolibries-in-onderbroek.pdf. Accessed 20-03-2018.
131 Duplaix 2001.
132 See reported export quotas to CITES: https://cites.org/
eng/resources/quotas/index.php
133 Kaieteur News 7 November 2012, Traders complain of
illegal bird smuggling between Guyana and Suriname, https://
www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2012/11/07/traders-complain-
of-illegal-bird-smuggling-between-guyana-and-suriname/
Accessed 19 March 2018.
134 Renctas 2001, 1st National Report on the Traffic of Wild
Animals.
135 IFAW, 23-11-2011, Too often consumers of exotic
products are failing to realise their impact on wildlife, https://
www.ifaw.org/united-states/news/too-often-consumers-
exotic-products-are-failing-realize-their-impact-wildlife.
Accessed 20 March 2018.
136 Suriname Mirror 04-10-2017, Slachtingen vinden plaats
onder in het bijzonder de jaguar, http://jaguar-in-suriname.
blogspot.nl/2017/10/slachtingen-vinden-plaats-onder-in-het.
html. Accessed 20 March 2018.
137 Tucson.com 6 May 2009, 4 Trinidad cops accused
of stealing 1,000 animals, http://english.sina.com/
world/p/2009/0506/239443.html. Accessed 20 March 2018.
138 CITES Information Doc AC28 Inf. 35 on Dendrobates
tinctorius submitted by IUCN to the 28th CITES Animals
Committee meeting in 2015.
139 Short Summary of Conclusions of the 71st Meeting of the
Scientific Review Group on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora, 9
April 2015.
140 UNEP-WCMC Technical report, Review of Chelonoidis
carbonaria from Suriname, prepared for the European
Commission, May 2014.
141 Paul Ouboter, Wildlife Management in Suriname,
Bioconsult report to Iwokrama, 2000.
142 Paul Ouboter, Sheryl Starke, Gaitry Satnarain 2010, Trade
in Bush Meat and Medicinal Plants in Suriname.
143 CNN 18 May 2017, The siren song of the mighty towa
towa, https://explorepartsunknown.com/queens/the-siren-
song-of-the-mighty-towa-towa/. Accessed 20 March 2018.
144 Personal communication with Surinamese wildlife trader,
March 2018.
145 Patrick R. Penneux, Non-Wood Forest products in
Surinam, FAO 1999.
146 Ouboter 2001.
147 Paul Ouboter, Sheryl Starke, Gaitry Satnarain 2010, Trade
in Bush Meat and Medicinal Plants in Suriname.
148 WWF-Guianas 2000, The Sea Turtles of Suriname.
149 WWF and Stinasu 2003, Aspects of Nesting and Nest
Success of the Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) in
Suriname.
150 WWF-Guianas 2000.
151 Newsday 14 June 2009, TT benefits from training in
prevention of illegal wildlife trade, http://archives.newsday.
co.tt/2009/06/14/tt-benefits-from-training-in-prevention-of-
illegal-wildlife-trade/. Accessed 14 March 2018.
152 Volkskrant 12 May 2012, Het vuile goud van Suriname,
https://www.volkskrant.nl/archief/het-vuile-goud-van-
suriname~a3254504/. Accessed 21 March 2018.
153 Press release by the Surinamese Commission for
Regulation of the gold sector: http://www.gov.sr/themas/
veiligheid-en-orde/ordening-goudsector-ogs.aspx. Accessed
21 March 2018.
154 See: www.thegef.org/sites/default/files/project_
documents/suriname2_0.doc. The document is not
dated, but as the funds were received in May 1999 (www.
conservation.org/NewsRoom/pressreleases/Pages/051399_
partnership_backs_suriname_forest.aspx), the proposal is
assumed to have been written in 1998 or 1999.
155 Paul E. Ouboter, Sheryl Starke, Gaitry U. Satnarain 2010,
Trade in Bush Meat and Medicinal Plants in Suriname.
156 WWF Guianas, Exploitation of the jaguar, Panthera onca
and other large forest cats in Suriname, March 2010.
NOTES NOTES
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 60 61 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
ANNEX 1
ANNEX 1 WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS BOLIVIA AND SURINAME
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS BOLIVIA
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/
incident
Location
Origin Destination Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(kg)
Number
(live)
Number
(dead)
Quantity
(parts)
Jan 21, 2003
Jun 25, 2003
Oct 01, 2003
Jul 10, 2004
Aug 12, 2004
Dec 28, 2004
Apr 25, 2005
May 9, 2006
Aug 20, 2006
Dec 16, 2006
2007
Jun 21, 2007
Feb 05, 2008
Jun 28, 2008
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
Ecuador
(Quito?)
USA
USA
USA
Brazil/Uruguay
Caiman
Caiman
Caiman
Blue-crowned
parakeet
Caiman
Caiman
Common boa
Brazilian Black
Tarantula
Moth
Ocelot
Caiman
Ocelot
beetles (many
Bolivian)
Caiman
Llama
Vicuna
Caiman
1
450
1
1
1
20
20
1
7 small leather
products
1 skin
2 skins
1 skin
34 skin pieces
and 50 sides
1 skin
7 skulls
3 skulls
21 large leather
products, 13 small
leather products
© Vincent Vos
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 62 63 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS BOLIVIA
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/
incident
Location
Origin Destination Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(kg)
Number
(live)
Number
(dead)
Quantity
(parts)
Aug 01, 2008
May 16, 2009
Jun 16, 2009
Aug 01, 2009
Sep 05, 2009
Oct 02, 2009
Dec 13, 2009
2010
Jan 13, 2010
Jan 16, 2010
Feb 03, 2010
Feb 17, 2010
Mar 09, 2010
Mar 25, 2010
Jul 03, 2010
Aug 20, 2010
Sep 08, 2010
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
USA
El Alto
USA
USA
USA
USA
Ecobol
17 de Julio
market in El
Alto
Ecobol
USA
Ecobol?
Ecobol, El Alto
airport
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
Chimán forest
in Beni
Peru
Santa Cruz
Caiman
Caiman
Jaguar
Lyrebird
(exotic to
Bolivia)
Caiman
Caiman
Maned Wolf
Caiman
native
butterflies
Andes Tree
Iguana
Parrots/
parakeets
Sea horses
Caiman
Sea horses
Beetles
Butterflies
Dwarf Caiman
Caiman
Ocelot
Caiman
Yellow-footed
Tortoise
240
60
min. 200
1
3500
2.752
6.240
1
1
14 large leather
products
skin pieces, 1
head, feet
1 head, 1 skin
piece, pieces
of bone, bome
amulets
bones (quantity
not specified)
9 skins
4 sides and 4 tails
27 scientific
specimens
73 skins
1 skin
83 small leather
products
1 carapace
Japan and
Canada
Taiwan and
China
Germany
at least
10
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS BOLIVIA
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/
incident
Location
Origin Destination Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(kg)
Number
(live)
Number
(dead)
Quantity
(parts)
2012
Feb 2012
Mar 27, 2012
Jun 01, 2012
Jun 17, 2012
Jun 30, 2012
Dec 2, 2012
Jan 18, 2013
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
market survey,
El Alto
Oruro
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
Vicuña
Armadillo
Birds
Black bird
Grey birds
Owl
Parrot
Caiman
Caiman
Oyster
Caiman
Jaguar
Great Horned
Owl
Scarlet Macaw
29 (7 of
them
elaborated
into
rattles)
49 yacas
1
1
1
numerous scarves,
ties and head
scarves
8 pieces of skin
8 feather plumes
with approx. 70
feathers each
1 feather plume
2 skins
1 scientific
specimen
1 jewellery
50 small leather
products
1 skull
24 feathers
14 feathers
365 kg
vicuña
fibre, 345
kg vicuña
blankets
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 64 65 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS BOLIVIA
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/
incident
Location
Origin Destination Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(kg)
Number
(live)
Number
(dead)
Quantity
(parts)
Feb 2013
Feb 07, 2013
Apr 22, 2013
Sep 21, 2013
40
41
42
43
Santa Cruz
USA
Puerto Pailas
Santa Cruz,
Los Pozos,
Ramada and
Cumavilos
markets
Peru and
Ecuador
probably Beni
Aquatic turtle
Blue-and-
yellow macaw
Capuchin
monkey
Green-
cheeked
parakeet
Parrotlet
Peach-fronted
parakeet
Thrush
Tortoise
Turquoise-
fronted
amazon
Yellow-
chevroned
parakeet
Caiman
Caiman
Blue-crowned
parakeet,
Monk
parakeet,
Red-masked
parakeet,
Yellow-
chevroned
parakeet
Yellow-spotted
Amazon River
Turtle
511 skins
1,016 skin pieces
522 eggs
Santa Cruz
1
4
1
3
75
2
2
1
1
9
4936
total 70
chicks in
seizure,
number
per
species
not
specified
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS BOLIVIA
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/
incident
Location
Origin Destination Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(kg)
Number
(live)
Number
(dead)
Quantity
(parts)
Oct 5, 2013
Aug 15, 2014
Aug 15, 2014
Aug 15, 2014
Nov 10, 2014
Nov 26, 2014
44
45
46
47
48
49
USA
Ecobol
Ecobol
El Alto Airport
Hotel in
Municipality
of Tulio Febres
Cordero
Oruro Rivers Beni
and Pando
(Northeast of
Bolivia)
Caiman
Wild forest
cats
Jaguar
Jaguar
Macaws
Capucin
monkeys
Yellow-
crowned
amazon
Toucan
Yellow-spotted
Amazon River
Turtle
2
teeth from
6 cats
24 teeth
7 teeth
8 packages
containing 40
necklaces with
jaguar canines, 60
loose canines and
at least 2 jars with
canines
China
China
China
Chile
7
4
3
1
41
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 66 67 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS BOLIVIA
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/
incident
Location
Origin Destination Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(kg)
Number
(live)
Number
(dead)
Quantity
(parts)
Dec, 2014
2014 or 2015
2014 or 2015
Feb, 2015
Feb 11, 2015
Feb 19, 2015
Mar 18, 2015
Apr 09, 2015
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
Home in
Rurrenabaque
El Alto airport
Ecobol
Cochabamba
Ecobol
Ecobol
Beijing Airport
Sucre
Cochabamba
Bolivia
Deer
Feline (cats),
species not
specified
Forest animals
Jaguar
Vipers
Jaguar
Jaguar
“Pio” (bird, not
sure which),
possibly also
suri.
Suri (Darwin’s
Rhea)
Armadillo
Jaguar
Jaguar
Anteater
Jaguar
Monkey
2
antlers (quantity
not specified)
bones (quantity
not specified)
300 teeth +
computer with
photos of jaguar
teeth hidden in
jars of chocolate
(quantity not
specified)
skins (quantity not
specified)
9 teeth
105 teeth (divided
in 2 packages
on 2 separate
occasions)
total of 350 bird
feathers in seizure
2 teeth
19 teeth
2 claws
119 canines + 13
claws
China
China
China
China
China
2 dried
heads
1
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS BOLIVIA
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/
incident
Location
Origin Destination Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(kg)
Number
(live)
Number
(dead)
Quantity
(parts)
Aug 14-16,
2015
Nov 21, 2015
2016
58
59
60
Urkupina
Argentina, La
Falda
Department of
Cochabamba
Bolivia
Armadillo
Fox (Andean
fox?)
Monkey
Snake
Suri (Darwin’s
Rhea)
Viscacha
Wild cat
Tufted
capuchin
Caimans,
Eagles,
Falcons,
Opossums
Monkeys
Parrots
Macaws
Turtles
Birds
Dried/stuffed
animals,
mostly birds
and wild cats
24
473
1 charango (string
instrument), 4
paws
17 tails, 7 paws, 1
snout. (total of 36
pieces, more not
specified)
4 hands
1 wallet
405 feathers
9 tails, 7 paws
1 tail
feathers, quantity
not specified
1
not
specified
12
37
20
30
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 68 69 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS BOLIVIA
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/
incident
Location
Origin Destination Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(kg)
Number
(live)
Number
(dead)
Quantity
(parts)
Jan 29, 2016
Feb 06, 2016
Feb 13-14,
2016
Apr 11, 2016
Apr 23, 2016
Apr 28, 2016
Apr 30, 2016
May 24, 2016
May 30, 2016
Jun 13, 2016
Jun 17, 2016
Jun 17, 2016
Jun 25, 2016
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
Mercado
la Pampa,
Cochabamba
Oruro
Cochabamba
Ecobol
Santa Cruz de
la Sierra
Peru, Puno
Ecobol
Ecobol
Rurrenabaque
Ecobol
Ecobol
Ecobol
Ecobol
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
18 species of
wild animals,
among them
armadillos,
parrots and
cats
Andean flicker
Anteater
Armadillo
Deer
Hawk
Ocelot
Viscacha
Armadillo
Deer
Suri (Darwin’s
Rhea)
Jaguar
Black-tailed
marmoset
(monkey)
Toucan
Armadillo
Jaguar
Jaguar
Jaguar
Jaguar
Jaguar
Jaguar
Jaguar
290
6
1
6
2
1
1
9 antlers
12 whiskers and
9 tails
1 pair of antlers
61 feathers
105 canines
10 canines
16 canines
7 teeth
4 canines
10 canines
6 canines
8 canines
China
China
China
China
China
China
China
1
1
7
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS BOLIVIA
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/
incident
Location
Origin Destination Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(kg)
Number
(live)
Number
(dead)
Quantity
(parts)
Aug, 2016
Aug 09, 2016
Oct 21, 2016
Nov 09, 2016
Dec 13, 2016
Dec 28, 2016
Jan 10, 2017
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
Urkupina
Pailón and
Fernández
Alonso in Dept.
Of Santa Cruz
Ecobol
Ecobol
Santa Ana del
Yacuma
Department of
Cochabamba
Chile, route
15 which links
Colchane
(border town
with Bolivia)
with Huara
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
Armadillo
Caiman
Ferret
Fox
Viscacha
Wild cat
Birds and a
breed of tapirs
Armadillo,
Capybara,
Lowland paca
(jochi), Several
bird and fish
species, Tapir,
White-lipped
peccary
Jaguar
Jaguar
Geoffroy’s cat
Jaguar
Parrot
Parakeets
81
1
1
57 bodies, tails
and paws
24 paws and tails
174 paws and tails
5 snouts
12 canines
10 canines
1 skull
24 skulls
illegal pet
markets in
Santa Cruz
China
China
Chile
Total of
200 kg
meat in
seizure,
quantity
per
species
not
specified
~ 100
7
2
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 70 71 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS BOLIVIA
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/
incident
Location
Origin Destination Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(kg)
Number
(live)
Number
(dead)
Quantity
(parts)
Jan 26, 2017
May, 2017
May 14, 2017
Jun 01, 2017
Jun 09, 2017
Jul 02, 2017
Aug 03, 2017
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
Loreto, private
home
La Paz
Peru, markets
of Puno and
Juliaca
Villa Tunari
propiedad
Santa Lidia,
3 km from
Porongo
Control post
on the Oruro-
Cochabamba
road
Tarija
Peru and
Bolivia
Mono martín
(squirrel
monkey)
Mono titi
(squirrel
monkey)
Vicuña
Andean
condor
Andean fox
Armadillo
Suri (Darwin’s
Rhea)
Viscacha
Jaguar
Common boa
Jaguar
Mono martín
(squirrel
monkey)
Pink flamingo
Turquoise-
fronted
amazon
23
wings (quantity
not specified)
1 skin, heads,
paws, tails
(quantity not
specified)
27 feathers, wings
(quantity not
specified)
tails (quantity not
specified)
many skins of
adult leopards
San Luis
market (La
Paz?)
Cochabamba
13.34 kg
fleeces
1
1
2
2
4
1
1
1
1
10
1
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS BOLIVIA
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/
incident
Location
Origin Destination Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(kg)
Number
(live)
Number
(dead)
Quantity
(parts)
Aug 10, 2017
Aug 14-16,
2017
Sep 04, 2017
Sep 13, 2017
Jan 30, 2018
Jan 30, 2018
Feb 26, 2018
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
Farmers
market in Tarija
Urkupina
Beni
Beni
Santa Cruz,
chicken
restaurant
Border Peru-
Bolivia
Santa Cruz,
Avenida Tres
Pasos al Frente
Peru
Parrots
Anteater
Armadillo
Fox (Andean
fox?)
Frog
Suri (Darwin’s
Rhea)
Viscacha
Caiman
River turtle
River turtle
Elephant
Giant armadillo
Jaguar
Marsh deer
Ocelot
(suspected)
Viper species
Saffron finch
Blue and Yellow
Macaw, Red-
fronted macaw,
Chestnut-
fronted macaw,
monk parakeet,
toucans
5
6
11 tongues
1 snout
646 feathers
(handed over
voluntarily), one
plume with several
tens of feathers
(seized)
47 paws and tails
170 skins
5377 eggs
50000 eggs
5 figurines
185 canines, 8
molars, 2 claws,
3 skins
3 antlers
1 coat
2 (presumably
skins)
Bolivia
54
581
150
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 72 73 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
SELECTION: JAGUAR SEIZURES/INCIDENTS BOLIVIA
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/ incident Location Origin Destination Number
(live)
Min. number
of jaguars
involved
Quantity (parts)
May 16, 2009
Dec 2, 2012
Aug 15, 2014
Aug 15, 2014
Dec, 2014
2014 or 2015
2014 or 2015
Feb 11, 2015
Feb 19, 2015
Mar 18, 2015
Apr 11, 2016
Apr 30, 2016
May 24, 2016
May 30, 2016
Jun 13, 2016
Jun 17, 2016
Jun 17, 2016
Jun 25, 2016
Oct 21, 2016
Nov 09, 2016
Dec 13, 2016
Jun 01, 2017
Jun 09, 2017
Jan 30, 2018
16
38
46
47
50
51
52
54
55
56
64
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
76
77
78
84
85
92
El Alto
USA
Ecobol
El Alto Airport
Home in Rurrenabaque
El Alto airport
Ecobol
Ecobol
Ecobol
Beijing Airport
Ecobol
Ecobol
Ecobol
Rurrenabaque
Ecobol
Ecobol
Ecobol
Ecobol
Ecobol
Ecobol
Santa Ana del Yacuma
Villa Tunari
Propriedad Santa Lidia, 3 km
from Porongo
Santa Cruz, chicken
restaurant
1
1
2
26
76
3
27
1
5
30
27
3
4
2
1
3
2
2
3
3
24
1
1
47
Chimán forest
in Beni
Cochabamba
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia
1
1
China
China
China
China
China
China
China
China
China
China
China
China
China
China
China
China
1 head, 1 skin piece,
pieces of bone, bone
amulets
1 skull
7 teeth
8 packages containing
40 necklaces with jaguar
canines, 60 loose canines
and at least 2 jars with
canines.
300 teeth + computer
with photos of jaguar
teeth hidden in jars of
chocolate (quantity not
specified)
9 teeth
105 teeth (divided in 2
packages on 2 separate
occasions)
2 teeth
19 teeth
119 canines + 13 claws
105 canines
10 canines
16 canines
7 teeth
4 canines
10 canines
6 canines
8 canines
12 canines
10 canines
24 skulls
many skins of adult
leopards
185 canines, 8 molars,
2 claws, 3 skins
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS SURINAME
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/ incident Location Origin Destination Quantity
(number
live)
Quantity (parts)
Dec 16, 2003
Jul 18, 2005
Dec 14, 2005
Mar 07, 2006
2007
Sep 2007
Oct 2007
Feb 2008
Mar 28, 2008
Mar 29, 2008
Apr 2008
Jun 7, 2008
Aug 12, 2008
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
10
11
12
13
14
USA
USA
USA
USA
Kwamalasemutu, Suriname
Reeberg, Suriname
Restaurant in Uitvlugt,
Paramaribo
Lelydorp, Suriname
USA
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
USA
40 feathers
skin, teeth and
meat
1800 eggs
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Caiman
Scarlet macaw
Mussurana
snake
Boa constrictor
Common
iguana
Emerald tree
boa
Red-footed
tortoise
Jaguarundi
Jaguar
Jaguar
Sea turtles
Black crowned
parrot
Blue and
yellow Macaw
Green
honeycreeper
Yellow-headed
Amazon
Songbirds
Green iguana
Spectacled
caiman
Songbirds
Bushmaster
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
Netherlands
South Africa
Netherlands
USA
1
3
860
8
12
14
10
3
10
81
25
5
73
Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(number
dead)
1
1
1
1
1
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 74 75 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS SURINAME
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/ incident Location Origin Destination Quantity
(number
live)
Quantity (parts)
Sep 7, 2008
Sep 28, 2008
April 23, 2009
April 26, 2009
2009
2009
2009
Mar 24, 2010
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Road from Apoera to
Paramaribo, near Witagron
Nickerie, Suriname
Zanderij airport, Suriname
Zanderij, Suriname
Kwamalasemutu, Suriname
Kwamalasemutu, Suriname
USA
skin, teeth and
meat, quantity
not specified
teeth and meat
quantity not
specified
Suriname
Guyana
Suriname
Suriname
Cock-of-the-
rock
Green aracari
Green-backed
trogon
Purple-
breasted
cotinga
Red-rumped
cacique
Yellow-rumped
cacique
Jaguar
Large-billed
seedfinch
Large-billed
seedfinch
Chestnut-
bellied
seedfinch
Seedeater
Slate-coloured
Seedeater
Violaceous
Euphonia
Jaguar
Jaguarundi
Ocelot
Speckled
worm lizard
Netherlands
USA
2
2
1
2
2
2
75
3
2
1
4
8
1
Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(number
dead)
1
2
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS SURINAME
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/ incident Location Origin Destination Quantity
(number
live)
Quantity (parts)
Mar 28, 2010
Sep 13, 2010
May 2011
Apr 2012
Feb 2012
Oct 7, 2012
June 2013
Oct 10, 2013
Nov 2014
Feb 23, 2015
Apr 2015
Apr 17, 2015
Nov 26, 2015
Nov 2016
Mar 2016
Apr 2016
Jun 17, 2016
Nov 2016
Mar 2017
Mar 2017
Mar 2017
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
USA
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Suriname
Erowarte, Suriname
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Suriname
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Marthastraat te Uitvlugt,
Paramaribo
Uitvlugt, Paramaribo
Santo Boma, Paramaribo
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Boxel, Suriname
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Marowijne river, Suriname
Commewijne, Suriname
Plantage Johanna
Margretha, Suriname
7 canines of cat
species
34 belts and
2 bags made
of crocodile
leather
8000 eggs
5000 eggs
meat, quantity
not specified
23500 eggs
1210 eggs
238 eggs
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Caiman
Cat species
Crocodile
Songbirds
Green sea
turtle
Sea turtles
Hummingbird
Tanager
Jaguar
Songbirds
Songbirds
Ocelot
Jaguar
Jaguar
Songbirds
Jaguar
Songbirds
Chestnut-
bellied
seedfinch
Chestnut-
bellied
seedfinch
Songbirds
Sea turtles
Sea turtles
Sea turtles
USA
China
Netherlands
Netherlands
Netherlands
Netherlands
Netherlands
Netherlands
Netherlands
Netherlands
Netherlands
6
25
10
2
20
5
1
5
1
13
6
5
10
Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(number
dead)
13
3
1
1
Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL 76 77 Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking in Bolivia and SurinameIUCN NL
WILDLIFE CRIME INCIDENTS SURINAME
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/ incident Location Origin Destination Quantity
(number
live)
Quantity (parts)
Jun 2017
Nov 2017
Jul 09, 2017
Jan 23, 2018
44
45
46
47
Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Afobakkaweg
Benzdorp
Zanderij airport, Suriname 19 canines
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Suriname
Wing barred
seedeater
Puma
Jaguar
Jaguar
Netherlands 1
Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(number
dead)
1
1
SELECTION: JAGUAR AND OTHER CAT SEIZURES/INCIDENTS SURINAME
Ref.
No.
Date Seizure/ incident Location Quantity
(number
live)
Quantity (parts)
2007
Sep 2007
Oct 2007
Sep 28, 2008
2009
2009
June 2013
Apr 2015
Apr 17, 2015
Nov 2016
Nov 2017
Jul 09, 2017
Jan 23, 2018
5
6
7
16
19
20
29
33
34
36
45
46
47
Kwamalasemutu, Suriname
Reeberg, Suriname
Restaurant in Uitvlugt,
Paramaribo
Road from Apoera to
Paramaribo, near Witagron
Zanderij, Suriname
Kwamalasemutu, Suriname
Suriname
Uitvlugt, Paramaribo
Santo Boma, Paramaribo
Boxel, Suriname
Afobakkaweg
Benzdorp
Zanderij airport, Suriname
Jaguarundi
Jaguar
Jaguar
Jaguar
Jaguar
Jaguarundi
Jaguar
Jaguar
Jaguar
Jaguar
Puma
Jaguar
Jaguar
Species
(common
name)
Quantity
(number
dead)
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
3
1
1
1
Min. number
of specimens
involved
skin, teeth and meat
skin, teeth and meat, quantity
not specified
teeth and meat
meat, quantity not specified
19 canines
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
1
1
1
1
5